Governor General Michaelle Jean presided over the first presentations of the new Sacrifice Medal on November 9th. Of the first 46 Sacrifice Medals, 21 were awarded posthumously to honor Canadian Forces personnel who lost their lives. Most were killed during tours in Afghanistan. A Saskatchewan couple was present to accept a medal on behalf of their son, Master Corporal Jeffrey Walsh, who died in an accidental shooting in Afghanistan. Originally, the medal would have only recognized soldiers killed or wounded by hostile fire. But Ben Walsh didn't think that was fair and spent more than a year working with others lobbying for change. Margaret Walsh was overcome with emotion when remembering her son. (Veterans groups agreed that all Canadian soldiers who put themselves in harm's way deserve the recognition, regardless of whether or not they were killed by enemy fire.)

Date: 2009-11-09
Placeline: REGINA, Saskatchewan.
Source: The Canadian Press
Length: 17 seconds

Transcript Prediction: << I'm just very proud of our son very proud of the work that everybody did so that Jeffrey could get this well it means so much >>

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