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A veteran remembers Canada's Forgotten War

It is called Canada's "Forgotten War." Over 500 Canadians died in the United Nations' struggle to repel the communist forces that invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. To the people they helped liberate, the Canadians were heroes. Yet those who made it home returned to an indifferent country and a government that took 40 years to officially acknowledge their sacrifice.

The Korean War ends with a negotiated truce on July 27, 1953. Canadian troops remain in Korea to enforce the fragile peace until 1955. While promptly decorated by both the United Nations and Britain for their service, Canada's 26,791 Korean veterans are not awarded a Canadian medal until 1991. In this excerpt from a 1999 documentary, the CBC hears veteran Jack Lachance's bittersweet recollections of Canada's Forgotten War.
According to the Korean Veterans Association of Canada, the Canadian government altered its view of the United Nations intervention in Korea and began recognizing it as a "war" instead of a "conflict" in the late 1980s. As a result, Canada's Korean veterans were finally permitted unhindered access to benefits such as land grants that many had been prevented from receiving because they were not considered veterans of a war.
Medium: Television
Program: The National Magazine
Broadcast Date: July 27, 1999
Guest(s): Jack LaChance
Reporter: Dan Bjarnason
Duration: 1:10

Last updated: January 13, 2012

Page consulted on August 21, 2012

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