{"id":2318,"date":"2021-09-21T14:54:37","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T14:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2021-09-21T14:56:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T14:56:15","slug":"mccormack-zachery-wilfrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/2021\/09\/21\/mccormack-zachery-wilfrid\/","title":{"rendered":"McCormack, Zachery Wilfrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small in stature, but with a huge heart and even bigger smile, Zachery Wilfrid McCormack had a knack for making everyone around him laugh. He was a fun-loving, bright light who enjoyed wrestling. In fact, he liked the sport so much that he belonged to the Salisbury Wrestling Club from junior high school and on. He also participated in several championship tournaments. Perhaps that\u2019s one reason he pushed his body to the limit and avoided junk food.<\/p>\n

Roller coasters and adventure were important words in Zachery\u2019s vocabulary, as were paintball and camping. He was always willing to try new activities and foods. His quiet and gentle nature was ever there, in the background, waiting to help people even if he didn\u2019t know them. And somehow with his busy life, he also managed to participate in an electrician apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

He graduated from Salisbury Composite High School in Sherwood Park in 2006, and decided to join the Canadian Armed Forces as a reservist the same year. The Forces was a good fit for his disciplined personality. In 2008 he volunteered to serve in Afghanistan. He was proud of his country, passionate about his family, and extremely excited about the prospect of marrying his fianc\u00e9e when he returned home.<\/p>\n

Zach was allergic to dogs. But that didn\u2019t stop him from opening his heart to save an abused puppy from Afghanistan children who were swinging it by the neck. He named it Napoleon and shared his food with it for over a month.<\/p>\n

He planned to continue with his wrestling passion when he returned to Canada. But he missed that opportunity and his last Christmas dinner, in 2009. When supper was served at the camp, Zach was out on patrol, breathing in dust in the service of his country.<\/p>\n

By Susan Blackman Abma<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Portrait by Susan Abma<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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September 4, 1988 – August 1, 2009
\nHometown: Val d’Or, Quebec
\nUnit: 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e R\u00e9giment Battle Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMcCormack, Zachery Wilfrid - Project Heroes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/2021\/09\/21\/mccormack-zachery-wilfrid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"McCormack, Zachery Wilfrid - Project Heroes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 4, 1988 - August 1, 2009 Hometown: Val d'Or, Quebec Unit: 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e R\u00e9giment Battle Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/2021\/09\/21\/mccormack-zachery-wilfrid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Project Heroes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-21T14:54:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-21T14:56:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/2-Portrait-McCormack1KGD-1132014-6168.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"655\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/2021\/09\/21\/mccormack-zachery-wilfrid\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/projectheroes.ca\/2021\/09\/21\/mccormack-zachery-wilfrid\/\",\"name\":\"McCormack, Zachery Wilfrid - 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