During his thirty six years of military service in the Infantry, Lewis MacKenzie served nine years in Germany with NATO forces, and nine peacekeeping tours of duty in six different mission areas - the Gaza Strip, Cyprus, Vietnam, Cairo, Central America and Sarajevo.

He is the only Canadian, military or civilian, to be awarded a second Meritorious Service Cross. He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1993.

A minefield was cleared in Afghanistan in his honour.