Posts Tagged ‘medals’

Corporal Craig Andrew Sparks researched Rideau Hall in Ottawa in preparation of receiving his Operational Service Medal (OSM) on Dec. 6 from Governor General David Johnston. “I was nervous, and not sure what to expect,” said Sparks, one of the first 50 recipients of the OSM. His research included going to the Cable Public Affairs Channel’s website to find an image of the hall’s ballroom. “Before we came in, I managed to peek through the doors and was assured it was the same room.” The medal, created on July 5, 2010, recognizes Canadian military personnel, civilians under the authority of the Canadian [...]

A special Legion medal worn by King Edward VIII in 1936 at the unveiling of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France has been acquired by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The medal, which had been in the estate of Wallis Simpson, the woman the king gave up his throne in order to marry, was sold by Sotheby’s in London, England for about $20,000. It was officially accepted into the war museum’s collection in a ceremony on Jan. 20 in The Royal Canadian Legion Hall of Honour in front of a 1937 painting of the unveiling by Georges Bertin Scott. In [...]

It was a day of mixed emotions for Captain Simon Mailloux. In the morning he became one of the first 46 individuals to be recognized with the new Sacrifice Medal presented by Governor General Michaëlle Jean and that evening he was shipping out for another tour of operations in Afghanistan. Walking now with a prosthesis that uses the latest high technology, he was philosophical when speaking to reporters after the Nov. 9 ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. “Going to war is not something we like to do, but it is something we have to do,” he said. Mailloux, then a lieutenant [...]