Well Deserved Gong...

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Well done...well deserved..


Feb 07, 2008 11:01 ET
Canadian Soldier Chosen to Accept Award for NATO

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2008) - A Canadian soldier from The First Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (1 RCR) in Petawawa, Ontario, will accept the Peace Through Dialogue Medal on Saturday, February 9 in Munich, Germany.

The award has been presented to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by the Munich Conference on Security Policy. The medal is awarded at the Conference each year to honour outstanding contributions to international peace and security. NATO has requested that a Canadian soldier accept this medal on its behalf. Private Michael Patrick O'Rourke, M.M.V. has been selected by the Canadian Forces to accept the award.

Pte O'Rourke is pleased that he has been selected by the Canadian Forces to accept this award on behalf of all NATO soldiers. "I am a soldier doing my job and I feel humbled that of all the soldiers who have contributed to NATO operations, I would be selected to receive this honour." Pte O'Rourke also received the Military Medal of Valour in 2006 for his participation in operations in Afghanistan, where he ignored his personal safety by braving enemy fire to assist in the treatment and evacuation of his fellow soldiers trapped in a disabled vehicle.

The 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy is an annual event, which will bring together some 250 high-ranking elected and appointed government officials, defence experts and media representatives from around the world in an informal setting to discuss transatlantic security and defence issues. The conference is scheduled February 8-10.

Note to Editors: To coordinate a telephone interview with Pte O'Rourke from February 6-10 please contact Capt Michael Mietzner at 011.49.174.213.8206. Before and after these dates, interviews for Pte O'Rourke can be coordinated with CFB Petawawa, Public Affairs at 613-687-5511-7532. For information regarding NATO issues contact Simone de Manso at 011.32.47577.7792.

[sapper740]

Good show that they're giving the medal to a Private as anyone who remembers the fiasco of the 125th would not want the medal going to an officer.