So, here’s the scenario. You’re in the military and are sent at the request (read order) of the government to a foreign land to perform active combat operations, both defensive and offensive in nature. While there, you are bombed, shot at, possibly attacked by chemical weapons, have to breathe contaminated air, and endure physical and mental privation. While there, you see horrible things that cannot be unseen and do things that cannot be walked back.
So, here’s the question. Are you a veteran with WARTIME SERVICE (WTS)?
The technically correct answer is NO!!! According to the Government of Canada, unless war has actually been declared against a foreign entity by the Government at the time of your service, you have not seen wartime service but have seen SPECIAL DUTY SERVICE (SDS). What’s the difference you may ask? Well, to those carrying out their duty, there is absolutely no difference to the danger they face in a SDS or WTS situation. According to the Government, however, the benefits that they receive for injuries incurred during service may/will differ depending on the injuries.
Now, you ask, how many people could this possibly affect because we send our soldiers to war, not special duty areas (unless you’re a Peacekeeper). Well, that’s the rub. The Korean War, Persian Gulf War, Bosnia, and Afghanistan War don’t qualify as wartime service even though they have “WAR” in the name. They are all special duty areas.
The Korean War veterans lobbied hard over the years and in 1980 had their service recognized after 27 years as wartime service and the Merchant Marine finally got wartime service recognition in 1990, forty-five years after the fact. Remember all those convoys that were sunk in WWII? All those sailors who sailed in under-gunned ships (if gunned at all) travelling at the speed of the slowest ship in the convoy across the Atlantic against the German U-Boats.
In my mind, this sets two precedents for wartime service, neither of which is a declaration of war by the Government. Firstly, the Korean War was technically a police action but the service of those veterans is rightly recognized as wartime service. Ergo, war does not have to be declared for soldiers in combat to have recognized wartime service. Secondly, the Merchant Marine were not members of the military but were civilian sailors fulfilling a military role in a warzone. Ergo, you don’t actually have to be a member of the military to have recognized wartime service. These are legal precedents that have legal basis in law.
So, why then after 32 years have the Gulf War veterans (Operation Friction ended Feb, 1991 specifically) not been recognized as having wartime service? They are members of the military sent to a combat area performing combat duties during a war, although war was not declared. The last phrase is irrelevant. Precedents have been set.
That was the purpose of the screening of a documentary “Canada Remembers Our Heroes: Operation Friction” on Tuesday evening, the 16th May, 2023. MP John Brassard has been helping the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada (PWVC) get a petition signed and pushed through Parliament to get their service recognized as wartime service. Helping him has been a non-partisan group of Parliamentarians such as Senator Rebecca Patterson (ret’d RAdm and Gulf War veteran herself), MP Anita Vandenbeld, MP Luc Desilets, and MP Alistair MacGregor. MP Vandenbeld hosted the evening which many Parliamentarians attended with the purpose being to show what the Gulf War veterans did during their service in Operation Friction and how it was no different than any combat in any other theatre at any other time. The feeling is that if this documentary can get a wide enough audience within Parliament and educate and influence enough people, then it should require a smaller effort to get the Gulf War service recognized as wartime service.
There were actually only a couple speakers before the documentary was shown with the most influential being the Ambassador to Canada of the State of Kuwait (H.E. Reem Alkhaled) who, as a young woman, was in Kuwait when Iraq invaded. She spoke to her experiences of that time and the gratitude of all Kuwaitis to the coalition forces and Canada specifically for her. She has conferred Kuwait Liberation Medals on many Canadian Gulf War Veterans and has plans for more because, as she said, Kuwait recognizes the service of Canadian veterans.
After the presentation, the hosting Parliamentarians spoke stating their support and need for this initiative to recognize Gulf War service as wartime service. And while their words are heartfelt and genuine, it was the words of the veterans themselves that held more sway. As they spoke individually, there seemed to be a common theme, unspoken but looming in the background and that was that they were fiercely proud of their service yet felt unnoticed, not remembered, and not appreciated for their sacrifices. There were no victory parades welcoming them home, there are no remembrance days just for them. It actually reminded me of Viet Nam vets when they came home and were jeered and abused rather than supported. That’s not to say Canadians have gone to those extremes, but if many veterans feel that way, then it’s not a one-of situation but the symptom of a wider phenomenon that needs to be addressed.
One simple way to help address this is to recognize their time in the Persian Gulf as wartime service. MP Brassard has introduced the petition on behalf of the PGVC before but the Parliament was dissolved for an election and it died. Not deterred, MP Brassard is taking another run at it with this Parliament and this petition, officially e-4399 (Veterans’ Affairs) at https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4399 , is still looking for signatures. If you think that you would like to support this initiative, please electronically support this petition before 28 May, 2023, when it closes.
Special thanks to MP Anita Vandenbeld for hosting the documentary screening at the Valour Building as well as all the other veterans groups that support this initiative such as ANAVETS, CAVUNP, CPVA, and the Korean War Veterans – Unit 7.
to see all the images from that night, CLICK HERE.
