Dr. Sarah Lockyer is a forensic anthropologist with the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. She manages the Casualty Identification Program and works to identify the skeletal remains of Canadian service members from the First and Second World Wars and the Korean Conflict so they can be buried with their name, by their unit, and in the presence of family. Dr. Lockyer played a key role in the unearthing of the Unknown Newfoundland Soldier, whose human remains were repatriated to the province in 2024 as part of the 100th anniversary of the Newfoundland National War Memorial. Dr. Lockyer also led the identification of Private John Lambert of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, who was killed in the Battle of Langemark in 1917 and formally laid to rest with full military honours at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s New Irish Farm Cemetery in 2022.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kyle Strong (BA’98) joined the Canadian Armed Forces with 1st Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment (1RNFLDR), in 1997 as a non-commissioned member before transferring to the Regular Force in 1999. A decorated veteran of Afghanistan, he was awarded the Medal of Bravery for his role in Operation HARPOON, Canada’s first combat air assault. He has held leadership positions across Canada, including Officer-in-Charge of Sniper Training and Regimental Officer-in-Charge for the 100th anniversary commemorations of Beaumont-Hamel and the Somme. In 2019, he assumed command of 1RNFLDR, later leading both battalions simultaneously. Reappointed in 2024, he proudly participated in the repatriation of Newfoundland’s Unknown Soldier.

Major Michael Pretty was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 1983 and served across Canada, Europe, and in several UN missions, including Cyprus, Bosnia, and Ukraine. He received a Regimental Commendation for his work in Bosnia in 1994 and was decorated by the US Army for his service in Ukraine in 2003. Beyond his military career, he founded Pretty SAFE Enterprises, training thousands in SCUBA, first aid, and survival skills. An avid historian, he established the Trail of the Caribou Research Group to preserve the stories of Newfoundlanders in wartime. Michael’s great uncle, Private John Pretty (Regimental Number 2276), is still missing in action from the Battle of Monchy Le Preux in 1917, while John’s brother Edmond who served in the Forestry Corps rests in a Commonwealth War Grave in Chapel Arm.

A graduate of Memorial University (BA ’79), Shirlene Murphy is a longtime resident of St. John’s and a retired provincial government employee. She is the great-niece of Private John Lambert, known as Jack within the family. In 2019, her mother, Patricia Coady Eagan, daughter of Ann Lambert (John’s sister), provided a DNA sample that helped positively identify remains discovered in Belgium in 2016 as those of Private Lambert.