V.C. ..Unknown Soldier....

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Letter to the Editor - Re: Victoria Cross for Canada's Unknown Soldier
OTTAWA, March 6 /CNW Telbec/ - The suggestion that the Victoria Cross
should be awarded to Canada's Unknown Soldier goes against the wishes of Queen
Victoria when she established the award in 1856.
If the plan is to present the Victoria Cross to Prime Minister Harper,
the National Council of Veteran Associations (56 member groups) considers that
this is a not-too-discreet way of politicizing the award of the highest honour
that can be bestowed upon a Canadian for valour in the battlefield.
Also, it looks like a rather weak way of following a precedent
established for presenting the award to Unknown Soldiers of other countries.
For example, the United States government awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honour (the U.S. equivalent to the Victoria Cross) to the Unknown Warrior
in Westminster Abbey in London, England on October 17, 1921. This was closely
followed by an award of the Victoria Cross to the original Unknown Soldier at
Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, United States on November 11th of the
same year. This led to a major controversy in America which resulted in other
gallantry medals awarded to cover Unknown Soldiers from other battlefronts in
order to be "politically correct."
The Royal Warrant of February 5, 1856 contains a provision which
apparently would disqualify the proposal. This is enumerated as the sixth
ordination as follows:

It is ordained, with a view to placing all persons on a perfectly equal
footing in relation to eligibility for the Decoration, that neither rank,
nor long service, nor wounds, nor any other circumstance or condition
whatsoever, save the merit of conspicuous bravery, shall be held to
establish a sufficient claim to the honour.

A further provision is that the Award can be made by the Crown on the
recommendation of the following: the Secretary of State for War; the
Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and other senior officers serving Her
Majesty.
Another stipulation is contained in Clause 12 to the effect that the
Decoration may not be awarded "without conclusive proofs of the performance of
the act of bravery for which the claim is made." Again, it is difficult, if
not impossible to obtain any details of the service of Canada's Unknown
Soldier.
It is our understanding that the Canadian Decoration follows the general
principles of the Royal Warrant issued in the name of Her Majesty.
For these reasons, the National Council of Veteran Associations has
adopted the policy, established when we entombed the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa
on May 25, 2000, that he should not be elevated in any way above the status of
his fallen comrades and instead represent all fallen soldiers and veterans
regardless of rank or status.

Sincerely,

(Signed)
Cliff Chadderton, CC, O.Ont., OStJ, CLJ, CAE, DCL, LLD
Chairman, Ottawa



For further information: For verification, please call Communications at
1-877-60MEDIA or communications@waramps.ca.: H. Clifford Chadderton, CC,
O.Ont., OStJ, CLJ, CAE, DCL, LLD, Chairman, (613) 731-3821, Fax: (613)
731-3234, administration@waramps.ca

[Bill Alexander]

I fully agree that it is inappropriate to award the Victoria Cross to the Unknown Soldier. Mr. Chadderton has certainly enumerated some of the concerns.
Would an appropriate alternative be the Officer of the Order of Canada?

[Pylon1357]

Cliff Chatterton, as usual, is bang on the money, once again I agree with him 100%.

I understand the motivation behind the idea of honouring the Unknown Soldier BUT as stated, IMO no way should a VC be awarded.

[Gunner]

Hi Bill:

The Order of Canada cannot be awarded to military personnel for military actions/performance/merit/etc. The Order of Military Merit was established for those cases.

Military pers who have been inducted into the Order of Canada have all done so for recognition of 'civilian' deeds benefitting our homeland.

Besides... anything less than the VC would be seen as a consolation prize. I agree with Cliff C's point of view... he (the Unknown Soldier) represents all of us, brave or not, clean or dirty, front liner or remf...

Cheers and Ubique!

Meltin' Mike in Ghana