Sacrifice Medal

New military honour announced

OLIVER MOORE

Globe and Mail Update

August 29, 2008 at 12:55 PM EDT

Members of the military wounded or killed because of hostile action will now be in line to receive the Sacrifice Medal, a new honour announced Friday by the Governor-General.

Rideau Hall said that the eligibility for the award will be back-dated to October of 2001, meaning that casualties dating to the beginning of the Afghan conflict may be eligible.

The medal is similar in intent to the U.S. Purple Heart, awarded to armed forces personnel who sustain wounds serious enough to require medical attention.

While Purple Hearts are often awarded immediately following hostile action, the Sacrifice Medal will come only after an application through military channels by a commanding officer.
The new medal unveiled by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean shows an image of the Queen on one side and and image from the Vimy Memorial on the other. Chancellery of Honours
Enlarge Image

The new medal unveiled by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean shows an image of the Queen on one side and and image from the Vimy Memorial on the other. (Chancellery of Honours)

But the criteria for the two medals is very similar.

"It's not so much how serious a wound will be," said Marie-Paule Thorn, a spokeswoman for Rideau Hall. "It's a wound that requires medical treatment, it caused a medical report and the wound was the result of hostile action."

Canadian soldiers have traditionally received a piece of gold braid that they wear on their sleeve. The replacement award was praised by retired general Lewis Mackenzie as being "more visible" and involving "more ceremony."

"It's overdue and the only thing that'll be controversial is those people wounded since the end of the Cold War who won't get it," he said.