J’lyn Nye, co-host of This Morning on 630 CHED and longtime Edmonton media personality, was awarded a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal Thursday.
The medal is given to those who have made an outstanding contribution to Alberta, according to the province.
Nye was recognized for the work she has done supporting military members and their families.
“I wave the flag for them, I am their cheerleader in the community,” she said.
“I get to do a lot of neat things, great experiences, and have met some really, really wonderful people over the past 20 years now.”
This work started in about 2003, she said.
“When I was working for Global Edmonton, they sent me to France to cover the opening of the Juno Beach Centre, which is the first Canadian Second World War museum in France,” she said.
That sparked an interest in military history that was fanned by a family connection — Nye’s grandfather was a member of the Royal Air Force and her father had a great interest in military history too.
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“I was dragged to every air show as a kid. I spent some time growing up beside CFB Trenton, so all the air shows when I was a kid,” she said.
“I always grew up with military history around my house, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.”
However, her intrigue deepened on April 17, 2002, when the first four Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.
“Seeing how this community came together for our military community, it was really, really powerful,” said Nye.
Nye started writing and emceeing the annual provincial Remembrance Day ceremony and has also been patron of the Edmonton Garrison Military Family Resource Centre for more than 10 years.
In 2015, Nye became an honorary colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
“In both of those roles as patron and as honorary colonel, I advocate for our military members and their families and really kind of try to foster an esprit de corps and bridge the gap between them and the community.”
Nye said receiving the award was “really, really special.”
“I’m just really honoured that I was surrounded by the people who really matter a lot to me for this,” she said. “I’ve been blessed to wave that flag for them and get to know them.
“I’m just so very, very proud of the work that they do every single day in the community.”
The moment was especially poignant in the wake of the fatal crash of a CH-147F Chinook helicopter in Ontario earlier in the week.
Brig.-Gen. Chris McKenna, director general of space and air with the RCAF, is a former commanding officer of 450 Squadron, the squadron that lost two members in the crash.
“There’s some ties there, so that was really, really powerful and it was a real reminder of the realities that our military members and their families face every single day,” said Nye.
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