Canadian War Heros Dishonoured again by Tories
Donny_Brasco @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:26 pm
$1:
Just as he'd move, like smoke, from firing perch to firing perch as one of the most dangerous snipers this country has produced.
...
Just as the most decorated Indian soldier to ever don a Canadian uniform virtually disappeared from history almost as soon as he returned to an ungrateful nation.
...
Instead, when he returned to Canada in 1919, Pegahmagabow, who was also shot during the war, entered a life of poverty, bigotry, mental and physical suffering, and obscurity, says Hayes, whose book Pegahmagabow: Legendary Warrior, Forgotten Hero details his rise and fall.
...
Pegahmagabow claimed 378 kills as a sniper, a figure that puts him well ahead of any other Canadian soldier in history.
Indeed, one place where his name has been preserved, in a somewhat unsavoury testament to his rifle prowess, is on Internet sniper websites that glorify the lethal tactic.
...
The third highest honour in the Canadian array of WWI decorations available to enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, the Military Medal trailed only the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in the country's citation firmament. Pegahmagabow won three of them.
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With tensions between Indians and whites over land claims and resettlement still running high in 1914, Pegahmagabow's immediate and voluntary enlistment in the army might seem counterintuitive.
This is especially true given that treaty provisions guaranteed Indians a free pass from any foreign conflict.
But the rate of Aboriginal enlistment ran high throughout WWI — easily matching that of white Canadians.
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"They didn't get the same benefits white veterans got, especially during the Depression."
Suffering from an enlarged heart and palpable mental trauma from his battlefield experiences, Pegahmagabow was clearly diminished by his conflict experiences.
"At last part of the war, my head did not work with me so well," he wrote in halting English to a pension commission review in 1940.
Despite these traumas, Pegahmagabow was initially denied a pension and resettlement loans from Ottawa Indian agencies.
"I don't feel like taking responsibility for the unfortunate animals that might be put in his care if the loan is granted," said a bitter local Indian agent in cautioning against a $300 federal loan request for some livestock.
...
While the loan denials virtually sentenced him to a life of itinerant work and poverty, they also motivated Pegahmagabow to become a committed native activist through the rest of his years.
...
Just as the most decorated Indian soldier to ever don a Canadian uniform virtually disappeared from history almost as soon as he returned to an ungrateful nation.
...
Instead, when he returned to Canada in 1919, Pegahmagabow, who was also shot during the war, entered a life of poverty, bigotry, mental and physical suffering, and obscurity, says Hayes, whose book Pegahmagabow: Legendary Warrior, Forgotten Hero details his rise and fall.
...
Pegahmagabow claimed 378 kills as a sniper, a figure that puts him well ahead of any other Canadian soldier in history.
Indeed, one place where his name has been preserved, in a somewhat unsavoury testament to his rifle prowess, is on Internet sniper websites that glorify the lethal tactic.
...
The third highest honour in the Canadian array of WWI decorations available to enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, the Military Medal trailed only the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in the country's citation firmament. Pegahmagabow won three of them.
...
With tensions between Indians and whites over land claims and resettlement still running high in 1914, Pegahmagabow's immediate and voluntary enlistment in the army might seem counterintuitive.
This is especially true given that treaty provisions guaranteed Indians a free pass from any foreign conflict.
But the rate of Aboriginal enlistment ran high throughout WWI — easily matching that of white Canadians.
---
"They didn't get the same benefits white veterans got, especially during the Depression."
Suffering from an enlarged heart and palpable mental trauma from his battlefield experiences, Pegahmagabow was clearly diminished by his conflict experiences.
"At last part of the war, my head did not work with me so well," he wrote in halting English to a pension commission review in 1940.
Despite these traumas, Pegahmagabow was initially denied a pension and resettlement loans from Ottawa Indian agencies.
"I don't feel like taking responsibility for the unfortunate animals that might be put in his care if the loan is granted," said a bitter local Indian agent in cautioning against a $300 federal loan request for some livestock.
...
While the loan denials virtually sentenced him to a life of itinerant work and poverty, they also motivated Pegahmagabow to become a committed native activist through the rest of his years.
Tories pay respects to native vets but fail to 'immediately' compensate
$1:
Veterans' spokesman Cliff Chadderton says the Tory promise to make up for 60 years of neglect has been put off until at least the fall. This, despite a campaign platform vowing the Conservatives would "take action immediately to give real compensation to these veterans in a way that truly respects their service and sacrifice."
Still think we are not second class citizens? Still think we can get a fair shake in 2006?
24K - that seems pretty minimal. I wonder what the average white war veteran of WW2 got over the course of his lifetime.
The good news is that if the Tories wait long enough the Canadian taxpayers will be off of the hook because all of the native veterans will be dead.
Shame on you Canada.
fatbasturd @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:30 pm
![[boxing]](./images/smilies/box2.gif "boxing")
ROUND ONE....LET'S HAVE A FAIR FIGHT GENTS
hwacker @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:33 pm
$1:
Shame on you Canada.
You can leave anytime.
fatbasturd @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:35 pm
hwacker hwacker:
$1:
Shame on you Canada.
You can leave anytime.
Hwacker delivers a good right jab to Donny....stay tuned to see how it is handled.
ridenrain @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:40 pm
Well, we sent all those letters to the Calidonia mailbox...
Tricks @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 5:41 pm
ridenrain ridenrain:
Well, we sent all those letters to the Calidonia mailbox...
ROTFL
Virgil @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:27 pm
hwacker hwacker:
$1:
Shame on you Canada.
You can leave anytime.
This reminds me of the time my friend from Poland told me to go back to my own country.
I agree with Donny on this, but it is not because of Canada. The Conservatives still need some working in on the whole aboriginal thing. It was a good step to recognise off reservation Indians, but this kind of cancels out with the backing out of Kelowna and having absolutely nothing for my people the Metis, though we are in much the same situation as our Indian cousins.
Hwacker, I've always hated you. But I have to say that a response like that to a complaint about an unrecognised war veteran is a true slap across the face to all the free world.
Tricks @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 5:51 pm
Donny said in another thread that he is not Canadian. Then he turns around and calls them Canadian. What is it Donny?
ShepherdsDog @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:00 pm
hmmm just to stir the pot a bit. What other native can lay slaim to killing 378 whites, in the early 20th century, and not end up swinging from a tree? On a serious note, what do we do, name a street after him, create a stamp or give him a coin?
Tricks @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:03 pm
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
hmmm just to stir the pot a bit. What other native can lay slaim to killing 378 whites, in the early 20th century, and not end up swinging from a tree? On a serious note, what do we do, name a street after him, create a stamp or give him a coin?
Name a reserve after him.
Virgil @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 6:05 pm
Tricks Tricks:
Donny said in another thread that he is not Canadian. Then he turns around and calls them Canadian. What is it Donny?
I used to have trouble calling myself Canadian too, because of loyalty to the Crown and the fact that "God keep our land" is in our national anthem. this was also at a time when I was witness to a lot of racsism, but that racsism wasn't Canada'a fault and it wasn't Canada, Canada is more or less sovereigne, and well, the national anthem thing still bugs me. But Canada is a multicultural place, I can call myself Metis and Canadian.
I guess I kind of understand Donny's plight though.
putz @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:45 pm
$1:
-Cook, however, says Pegahmagabow's sniper tally is likely inflated and that his claims to have actually entered German trenches are almost certainly exaggerations.
-The third highest honour in the Canadian array of WWI decorations available to enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, the Military Medal trailed only the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in the country's citation firmament. Pegahmagabow won three of them.
In the way they were presented at the time meant that he physically possessed one medal with two bars displayed on the attached ribbon.
But regardless of its configuration, the busy piece of hardware represents an achievement that only 39 other Canadians — out of a total 625,000 men and women the young nation sent — would claim in the conflict.
-What's surprising, perhaps, is that Canadian aboriginal men like Pegahmagabow joined the war at all.
With tensions between Indians and whites over land claims and resettlement still running high in 1914, Pegahmagabow's immediate and voluntary enlistment in the army might seem counterintuitive.
-The third highest honour in the Canadian array of WWI decorations available to enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, the Military Medal trailed only the Victoria Cross and Distinguished Conduct Medal in the country's citation firmament. Pegahmagabow won three of them.
In the way they were presented at the time meant that he physically possessed one medal with two bars displayed on the attached ribbon.
But regardless of its configuration, the busy piece of hardware represents an achievement that only 39 other Canadians — out of a total 625,000 men and women the young nation sent — would claim in the conflict.
-What's surprising, perhaps, is that Canadian aboriginal men like Pegahmagabow joined the war at all.
With tensions between Indians and whites over land claims and resettlement still running high in 1914, Pegahmagabow's immediate and voluntary enlistment in the army might seem counterintuitive.
There are lots of cases over the years over proper compensation to all types of vets not just aboriginal ones. Look at the metchant marine from WWII, for one example.
The government is trying to make good on its mistakes from this past mistreatment. Isn't the title "Canadian War Heros Dishonoured again by Tories" a little (lot) misleading???
$1:
Chadderton's group says aboriginal veterans who were declined support decades ago should get $24,000 each - compensation on par with that paid to other shunned groups, such as the merchant mariners.
Whats the problem?? At least they are addressing the problem. It takes more the 4 months to solve a problem with the beauracracy
Wullu @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:45 pm
lily lily:
I'm just glad I never had to write his name on a history test.
This is one of those threads where people seem more interested in who posted, rather than what they posted.
It's a good topic - why isn't this man remembered?
This is one of those threads where people seem more interested in who posted, rather than what they posted.
It's a good topic - why isn't this man remembered?
Why are the VAST majority of our war veterans not remembered? Where are the memorials to William Hall ( our first VC, a sailor and oh btw black )? Where are the memorials to Cy Peck? I will tell you where. In the interest of the people of this country in the feats of our military. No where.
Tricks @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:47 pm
Wullu Wullu:
lily lily:
I'm just glad I never had to write his name on a history test.
This is one of those threads where people seem more interested in who posted, rather than what they posted.
It's a good topic - why isn't this man remembered?
This is one of those threads where people seem more interested in who posted, rather than what they posted.
It's a good topic - why isn't this man remembered?
Why are the VAST majority of our war veterans not remembered? Where are the memorials to William Hall ( our first VC, a sailor and oh btw black )? Where are the memorials to Cy Peck? I will tell you where. In the interest of the people of this country in the feats of our military. No where.
Arctic_Menace @ Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:49 pm
There was a good section on him in my grade 10 history book....