Two nights before the most important salute of her cadet career, Warrant Officer Olivia Vernelli walked the ground at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, rehearsing each step and every turn with precision and dedication.
The 16-year-old member of the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment (3RCR) – 2642 Army Cadet Corps served as escort on Tuesday for Queen Camilla and as the wreath-bearer for the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier alongside King Charles.
In many respects, she is her father’s daughter.
Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli was precise and meticulous, a soldier’s soldier.
There’s a seriousness and maturity about Olivia that’s way beyond her years and it shows in the multiple cadet awards she has won.
She was a little more than six months old when her father died alongside another soldier, Cpl. Tyler Crooks, in …