MG34:
The Wound Stripe, our traditional badge to honour soldiers wounded in action, disappeared with Unification and the Green Suit that Mr. Hellyer gave us. It reappeared in the early 1990s, I believe right around the same time that the VC was reinstated into the Canadian Honours system.
I do not recall the exact year this happened, but ‘92 or ‘93 seems about right. I believe that the reason was that the powers-that-be realised that with the operations in FRY, Canadian soldiers were going to be WIA, and there was no official way to recognise/honour them. Unlike our Yank Allies with the Purple Heart, the Wound Stripe was the traditional way that the Armies of the British Commonwealth recognised soldiers who had actually shed their blood in defence of the nation.
If the Wound Stripe was reinstated in ‘92 or ‘93, it would have taken the NDHQ staff some time to work out who was entitled to receive this award. You may remember that NDHQ‘s records of Canadian casualties (WIA) in the early ‘90s were less than accurate/complete - Capt Kennedy, the original Editor of LFCA‘s Army Newspaper, The Garrison, wrote an article on this. This may explain why it took so long for you to receive the award.
Perhaps Michael Dorosh or someone else on this Forum can give us a more exact date for the reinstatement of the Wound Stripe?
As to the original question, I have a CD.
Regards,
)
UNPROFOR Op Harmony Roto 2
