A lot has been made recently of what makes Canadians and
Americans different. Canadians say "roof" while
Americans say "ruff". Canadians know a lot about the US,
while Americans (OK, maybe not all of them!) couldn't find Canada on a
map.
But for all our difference, there are many things we have in
common. One thing we share with the Americans is their Medal of
Honor (Honour) recipients.
There are 54 "known" Medal of Honor recipients who are or
were from Canada.
There are five MOH recipients buried in Canada including:
- Edward Dodds in Port Hope Ontario
- George Phillips in St. John, NB
- Horatio Young in Stephenville, NB
- Lee Nutting in Bridgewater, NS
- Charles Robinson in Halifax, NS.
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The following Canadians were awarded the MOH during the 19th Century:
- BOIS, FRANK Quartermaster, U.S. Navy U.S.S. Cincinnati
- BROWN, JOHN HARTIES, Capt., Coy D, 12th Kent. Inf.
- BUCKLEY, DENIS, Pvt., Coy G, 136th New York Infantry
- CAYER, OVILA, Sgt., Coy A 14th U.S. Volunteers
- CHAPMAN, JOHN, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery
- CHAPUT, LOUIS G. Landsman, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Lackawanna
- DODD, ROBERT F., Pvt., Coy E, 27th Mich. Inf.
- DODDS, EDWARD E., Sgt, Coy C, 21st New York Cav.
- FITZPATRICK, THOMAS, Coxswain, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Hartford
- GILMORE, JOHN C. Maj., 16th New York Inf.
- HAGERTY, ASEL Private, Coy A, 61st New York Inf.
- HIGGINS, THOMAS J., Sgt., Coy D, 99th Illinois Inf.
- HOUGHTON, GEORGE L., Pvt, Coy D, 104th Illinois Inf.
- McINTOSH, JAMES Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy U.S.S.
Richmond
- McMahon, Martin T. Captain, and aide_de_camp U.S.
Volunteers
- McVEANE, JOHN P. Corporal, Company D 49th New York
Infantry
- MURPHY, James T. Private, Company L 1st Connecticut
Artillery
- O'CONNOR, Albert Sergeant, Company A 7th Wisconsin
Infantry
- PICKLE, Alonzo H. Sergeant, Company B 1st Battalion
Minnesota nfantry
- POWERS, Wesley J. Corporal, Company F, 147th Illinois
Infantry
- RICH, Carlos H. First Sergeant, Company K 4th Vermont
Infantry
- SCOTT, Alexander Corporal, Company D 10th Vermont Infantry
- SHIVERS, John Private, U.S. Marine Corps
- YOUNG, Benjamine F. Corporal, Company I 1st Michigan
Sharpshooters
(This list came from:
www.members.tripod.com/PvtChurch/bios/mohbio.html) |
ROBERT SWEENY, born in Montreal in 1853, won two M'sOH:
| The first citation reads: Serving
on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge, at Hampton Roads, Va., 26 October
1881, Sweeney jumped overboard and assisted in saving from
drowning a shipmate who had fallen overboard into a strongly
running tide.
The second reads: Serving on board the U.S.S.
Jamestown, at the Navy Yard New York, 20 December 1883, Sweeney
rescued from drowning, A. A. George, who had fallen overboard
from that vessel. |
PETER LEMON is currently an
inspirational speaker in Colorado but he was born in 1950 in Toronto,
Ontario. He was awarded the MOH in 1970 for his actions in
Vietnam.
More recently, JOHN McDERMOTT (www.johnmcdermott.com), one of the nicest singing
voices to come out of the Toronto SUN news room, was awarded the
Bob Hope Award by The Congressional Medal of
Honor Society on October 29, 2001, for his many years of providing
entertainment
to U.S. Veterans. If you have never heard John sing, you are
missing something. Every year he gives a concert in Ottawa with
the proceeds going to the Canadian War Amputees.
JOSEPH B. NOIL, born in 1841 in Nova Scotia, is the only
Canadian-of-colour to receive a MOH. On December 26, 1872, while
serving aboard the USS Powhaten, Noil saved Boatswain J.C. Walton from
drowning.
On January 8, 1878, WILLARD and HARRY MILLER of Noel Shore,
Hants Co., Nova Scotia, while serving aboard the USS Nashville, pulled
off an impossible mission under heavy gunfire in a Cuban bay. The
Miller brothers became the first set of brothers to ever be awarded a MOH. You can find out more of this mission at:
http://www.powmia.ca/miller/dailynews.html
CHARLES A. MacGILLVARY moved from
Prince Edward Island, at the age of 16, to live with his older brother in Boston.
Following the attack in Pearl Harbour in 1941, MacGillvary joined the US
Army. He was convinced by a local enlisting agent that it would be
better if he got US citizenship. So off he went to become an
American. In 1945, after landing on Omaha Beach at Normandy (the
landing featured in Saving Private Ryan),
MacGillvary made his way into France with the US Army. On
New Year’s Day 1945, Sergeant MacGillivary’s company, pinned down in
the European permafrost by a Panzer division, running out of ammunition
and talking of surrender, lost its commander. MacGillvary was next in
line to take his place. MacGillvary undertook a lone-man mission
to try and free up his platoon's advance. He made his way forward
and around the machine gun nests that were pinning down his men.
Single-handed, he took out four German machine-gun
emplacements. At the final nest, a solitary German soldier fired a
machine gun burst at MacGillvary which ripped off his left arm.
Still, MacGillvary took the position and allowed the advance to
continue. Charles MacGillvary died Saturday, June 24, 2000 at the
age of 83. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a funeral
reserved for only military heroes.
As time moves on we will find more stories of Canadians who are
American heroes.
I hope that both Canadians and Americans reflect on the contribution
made by these people who did not concern themselves with the differences
between our two countries.
Check here to see the list of
Americans who were awarded the Victoria Cross.
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