Historian receives prestigious Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers

MWO (Ret’d) Bart Armstrong with British Columbia Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon during a presentation of the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers at Government House, Jan. 5. Photo: Don Craig, Government House

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

MWO (Ret’d) Bart Armstrong was among 30 people from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland to be presented the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.

Recipients were honoured in a Jan. 5 ceremony at Government House with LGov Judith Guichon presiding.

The medal recognizes exceptional achievement by Canadian volunteers in a wide range of fields across the country. It was presented to Armstrong and the other recipients on behalf of Canada’s Governor General David Johnston by LGov Guichon.

Armstrong, the sole Canadian in the United-States based Medal of Honor Historical Society, has written and researched extensively about Canadians who fought in the American Civil War, the Spanish American War, the First and Second World War, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines, and received the Medal of Honor.

Armstrong joined the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves in 1965 and retired in 1985 after serving with the Toronto Scottish (then the Princes Louise Fusiliers at Halifax) and the 11th Victoria Service Battalion.

“I was truly humbled by the honour of joining such an incredibly diversified and dedicated group of Canadians at this ceremony,” said Armstrong. “When the Governor General makes these awards, and so many others, he or she perpetuates the highest level of good Canadian citizenship. This highest office teaches us that as we walk through the streets of Canada and see problems it is our duty to fix them.”

Other recipients of the award with ties to the military community included retired Second World War veteran Harry Hardy of Burnaby, who volunteers his time with the Tetra Society of North America, an organization that offers assistance to people with disabilities; Second World War nursing veteran Agnes Keegan who has volunteered with the Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corp in downtown Vancouver for over 35 years; Victoria’s Thomas Martin who has held executive positions with numerous organizations including the Rotary Club of Victoria-Harbourside, which he founded, and the Queen’s Own Rifles Association; and King Wan of Vancouver, who helped establish the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society.

The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers incorporates and replaces the former Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award, created by former Governor General Roméo LeBlanc in 1995. The medal design symbolizes generosity and the action of caring, and features two intertwined hearts and a ribbon of blue, gold and red.

The new award was first announced in July 2015 as part of $2.8-million effort by the government to update Canada’s existing honours system, with its first group of recipients honoured in April 2016. The recipients are selected by The Chancellery of Honours, part of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General which administers the program and receives nominations.