Paul's Legacy: A Fundraiser for Courtney & Ethan

‘After an almost decade-long battle with cancer, Paul passed away at Victoria Hospital, London, on Monday, August 12, 2024, in his 40th year. Beloved husband, father, son, brother, uncle, friend and Military Combat Engineer and Combat Diver, Paul was an incredible man who enjoyed spending time with his family and his dog Mudd, working on cars, being active, and caring for others.’

“Some are bound to die young. By dying young a person stays young in people’s memory. If he burns brightly before he dies, his brightness shines for all time.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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My name is Walter Gammeter. I’ve started this fundraiser to not only honour the memory of my friend Paul Thompson but to raise money for his children, Courtney and Ethan. Paul was a class act soldier, father, husband and friend to many within the Combat Engineer community and beyond.

Our Story (7min read)

It is often talked about how you will make the best friends you’ve ever had during your time in the military. Paul Thompson was the first friend I ever made in my career and truly exemplified what it meant to be a genuine person.

I met Paul on August 4th of 2012. We had both applied to join the Canadian Armed Forces as Combat Engineers and through some miracle of paperwork, we were slated to start our careers at the same time. Our paths first crossed when we met at the swearing-in ceremony at a recruiting center in New Westminster, British Columbia. Paul struck me as a friendly, outgoing, and levelheaded person in a situation full of firsts, and uncertainty about what would happen next. This would never change throughout the time I knew him.

After taking our oaths, our paths crossed again a few days later at the Abbotsford Airport where we both boarded a plane bound for Montreal to begin our great adventure. As luck would have it, our seats were together, so we began getting acquainted and sharing what we knew about what lied ahead. I remember thinking, I’m already making friends and I haven’t even got there yet!

We were ripe with anticipation and eager to get started. I will always cherish that time we shared, sitting on the edge of the beginning of our respective new chapters.

After 12 weeks of BMQ, we were on the road again. This time, with our cohort of Engineers to-be as we made our way by bus to CFB Gagetown, in New Brunswick. Paul was liked by everyone in our course. Most of us being in our early 20s, Paul was one of the slightly older guys on the course, by a whopping 5 years compared to me, he was quickly adopted as the ‘old man’. “Old man-Thompy” we would call him. He handled it exceptionally well, always ready with a roasting comeback that sent laughter rippling across the room.

No matter how much suck we got into on our course or how much abuse was piled on us with added – rain, mud, dirt, sweat, every time I looked over at Paul, he had a look of assurance and calm on his face and that always encouraged me. He understood, like I, that the training which at times was arduous, was just a game that we had to play along to, and that eventually it would end. It was all about getting through the day. “One day at a time”, I recall him saying. Paul was the type of man you wanted watching your back – the type of team player you could always depend on of whom trust was of no question.

Our course or DP1(developmental period) started in the frigid days of February ending in the warm summer sendoff of June. As luck would have it again, Paul and I were roommates for that whole period. It was great having a friend from back home through this new experience and adventure. Prior to the course starting, I had flown home to BC during Christmas leave. Paul and I again shared flights and seats back to and from BC. During Christmas, I proposed to my girlfriend at the time and was excited to finish my training and get married later that year. We had planned our wedding for that summer of 2013. During DP1, I decided that I wanted my groomsmen to be my best friends that I had made during the course as a testament to the quality of people I had befriended so far in my career. I asked Paul if he would be my best man. In retrospect this is funny to me because I had only known him about 6 months at this point - I was young and full of enthusiasm. Paul accepted without hesitation. He could have said no, after all we had really just met, but he was glad to accept the task. I would even go so far as to say proud to be the man. We may not have known each other for a long time, but it was the quality of that time that mattered. He was dependable and helped me along the way. He even organized a trip along with my groomsmen, Erick, and Austin and a few others, to St. John, NB as a bachelor’s trip. I knew I had made the right choice. He simply had my back.

Leanne and I’s wedding in August of 2013 was an amazing day and Paul was a fantastic best man. It took place late in the summer after we were all posted to our different regiments, so the wedding was like a mini reunion in addition to being a great party. His toast was delivered as if we had been lifelong friends. He was truly a gifted speaker. I will forever be grateful for the gift of his friendship and the time I was lucky enough to share with Paul, along with the rest of the crew on that day. I will never forget the roar of laughter during our wedding party photo shoot when Erick my groomsmen, while taking a kneeling pose, ripped the crotch seem of his dress pants. It was so loud when it happened that all of us erupted in hysteric belly laughter – one of my favorite moments of that day that we shared with Paul.(pictured below)

That whirlwind of a year launched us into our careers. Paul was posted to 1 CER in Edmonton, Alberta and I to 2 CER in Petawawa, Ontario. Despite life becoming very busy when Leanne and I had our first child, Elizabeth in 2015, we continued to stay in touch. While exchanging birthday greetings over Facebook, I learned about his cancer and how he had recently fought off what was present at that time. I wasn’t surprised that he was fighting it well. I knew he was a strong fighter and always determined to succeed in everything he did. This was evident in his success at becoming a Combat Diver and later a Sgt amidst his fight against cancer. Strong does not even begin to describe Paul. You will meet few people in your life of his caliber.

Not for any good reason, we spoke less frequently as the years went by – life and distance getting in the way. I knew he was no doubt busy raising a young family. Despite our unintended distance, I only ever heard great things about him through our colleagues and across different theaters and connections. Paul truly made an unequivocally positive impact on the people he served with and later led.

On August 13th, 2024, my friend and groomsmen, Austin reached out to me. I learned that Paul’s cancer had returned and that he had passed the day before. I was in disbelief, followed by waves of devastation. I immediately was trying to recall our last conversation which suddenly felt so long ago. I’d been accustomed to loss in the military but Paul’s passing, knowing he was survived by his wife and two young children, brought a crushingly deep blow to my heart. Being a father of 3, the reality hit me in way that was so hard and so real. I was gutted. It tore me apart imagining what his family was going through. It shook me to the core. I held my children tightly that night.

As a comrade, father and friend, I’ve never felt so compelled to act. Through the way Paul always had his friends and teammates back – had my back, is how I want to act in his remembrance. We were always taught to look out for each other as brothers and sisters in the military, and I know countless others will agree, that it spans beyond the end of life.

Paul was one of the best soldiers I ever knew and one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met. We will remember him, and my goal as a military and extended military community, is that we will pay his character forward onto his children – the biggest and brightest light of his legacy that will continue to shine on.