Rupert soldier injured in Afghanistan

[quote=“poolboy”]
Yeah, but he still shouldn’t be honored the same way as a guy who was injured while under fire, should he? There should be a distinction, otherwise it kind of shorts the guy who was hurt fighting.[/quote]

Was he on duty in a dangerous area of a foreign land? Yes. So why treat this differently? If there is an honor to be given, he should get it.

Actually, if you look at the military medals given in Canada, you may find the distinction you are looking for.:
vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub. … N=20866210

It looks like there is some kind of service medal. I still don’t think we should assume honorable service. Maybe he just signed up so he could shoot some “ragheads.” Who knows?

Soldiers are just like anyone else. Some of them are cool and doing it for noble reasons, while some just wanted a job and a chance to travel and, maybe, get a rush out of the power.

It’s naive and sentimental to give them automatic hero status.

I think Abu Gharib has taught us that.

[quote=“poolboy”]It looks like there is some kind of service medal. I still don’t think we should assume honorable service. Maybe he just signed up so he could shoot some “ragheads.” Who knows?

Soldiers are just like anyone else. Some of them are cool and doing it for noble reasons, while some just wanted a job and a chance to travel and, maybe, get a rush out of the power.

It’s naive and sentimental to give them automatic hero status.

I think Abu Gharib has taught us that.[/quote]

I live among soldiers. All my neighbours ( yes all of them) within a radius of 300 meters are CFB Gagetown personnel. You’re right, they are just like anyone else. But there’s one major difference: Just like police officers, they are doing a job where being in danger is a thing more likely to happen than in most other job. Sure there are other dangerous jobs out there. But most of them are not for serving the country and are also much more lucrative than being a soldier.
I don’t think they are all hero. I do think that if anyone gets hurt while on duty in a foreign land where danger is a daily factor should have some kind of reward if such a thing exists. It doesn’ t have to be attached to “hero” status.

Alright, BigThumb. I’ll give you that - but only if he signs a declaration that reads: "I am not serving my country as a member of the Armed Forces just so I can shoot some dark-skinned guy from a country that ends in “istan.”

Interesting discussion of Canadian Forces and the “Wound Stripe” here:

toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.c … tripe.html

I think I can shed some light on this old topic I just came across. I wright this not in anger, frustration, disgust or anything bad or good. This is to tell the truth.

    On the day in question the vehicle was driving down the road when a local national taxi cut into the path of the vehicle in question. The field of view for a driver in one of the vehicle that was being driven is pretty 

much right upfront of you, very little to your left and nothing to the right. The driver uses information from the commander of the vehicle as to the blind spots (no mirrors) using the internal
radio system (time delay), Almost 70% of the rest of the vehicles situation is un-seen by the driver. After hitting the local nations vehicle and losing control…well we all know by now how it ended.
So as for being injured?, yes. At the time there was only one thing Canadian Service Personal received for any injury by either enemy action or accident. It was called a wound stripe,
and one was not giving for that day. There has since been a medal like the American Purple Heart that injured Service Personnel are awarded and Vets can apply for. Was the application
sent for the medal?, no. Intention of sending for the medal?, no. Have there been medals awarded for less of injuries to Service Personnel?, yes.
Why might some ask and there is a clear reason for this. Some people do it for the glory, and you can find allot of them in the Service. These people care more about what they are
doing so other people will pay attention to them. There is nothing wrong with that, these people still do a great job and are of great value on the battlefield. Then there are the other
people, you could say that the person in question fits into this category. The type of people who just wanted to get out of a town that offered nothing at the time and a chance to see
the world, travel to many different countries, see thing most people will never get to see and the most important part, getting paid really good money for it. These people didn’t don’t do
it for anyone but themselves, the guy to the left and right of them and the all mighty dollar. There are also many different type of people in the Services I’m just using both ends of the spectrum
as my example.
So to sum things up. This is not a person looking for any glory or attention to what happened that day. It was a job. Offered a paid adventure around the world to the right person out of school and noting better to do with his life at the time that had him there at that date, time and situation in question. I’m not looking to stop the support of our Service Personal either, they need all they can get.

Join your local Legion. help the vets out.