Top: Marley Léger accepts the South-West Asia Service Medal awarded posthumously to her husband, Sergeant Marc Léger who was one of the four Canadian soldiers killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Above: Master Corporal Eric Normand Savard accepts his medal.

The first several hundred of an estimated 7,000 or more Canadians who participated in and continue to serve on land, sea and in the air on operations against terrorism in Afghanistan and neighbouring Asian countries since the devastating terrorist attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 have been awarded the South-West Asia Service Medal.

In an inaugural presentation at Government House on Sept. 20, Governor General Adrienne Clarkson presented the circular silver medals with ribbons to 35 members of the Canadian Forces, including posthumous awards to the four Canadian soldiers who were killed in a friendly fire incident while serving with the American forces near Kandahar.

The four Canadians–Corporal Ainsworth Dyer of Toronto, Private Richard Green of Hubbards, N.S., and Sergeant Marc Léger and Private Nathan Smith of Edmonton–were killed when a patrolling American fighter plane mistook gun flashes from a live-fire night exercise on the ground as an attack against his aircraft and released a bomb on the target.

“I can’t even explain to you in words how comforting it has been to have the support of the Canadian public,” said a tearful Marley Léger as she accepted the medal on behalf of her late husband. She praised the Canadian Forces members for their courage and thanked the country for its compassion after receiving the medal from the Governor General.

The medal recipients represent the elements, units and trades that have participated in Operation Apollo. The criteria for selection for the medal includes any individuals “posted, attached to or working with a Canadian or allied unit or formation deployed outside Canada that was participating in or providing direct support on a full-time basis to operations conducted against terrorism in South-West Asia for a period for at least 90 days after Sept. 11, 2001.

Some recipients will also receive a bar, bearing the word Afghanistan, with their medals. The bar is awarded to individuals who have served for a period of at least 30 days while deployed in the theatre of operations after Sept. 11, 2001. The theatre of operations includes Afghanistan, other unnamed Gulf states, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, parts of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, as well as the airspace.

As of late October more than 600 of the medals had been handed out and about 1,500 had been approved for presentation. A news release from the Governor General’s office says, however, that the nominal roll for recipients was still being composed and that until operations are completed in the area a final tally was impossible. “We estimate that at this point in time approximately 7,000 personnel currently qualify for the medal.”

The silver medal is circular and suspended from a ribbon. The front has an effigy of the Queen wearing the King George IV State Diadem and has the inscriptions Canada, Elizabeth II, Dei Gratia Regina. The reverse bears a representation of Hydra, a multi-headed creature of Greek mythology transfixed by a sword with a maple leaf on the handle, and the Latin inscription Adversus Malum Pugnamous for We Are Fighting Evil.

The ribbon has stripes of white, black, red and sand. The black stripe represents the shock of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and following anti-terrorist operations, the sand stripe represents the theatre of operations and the white stripe is for hoped-for peaceful conclusion of the campaign. The red stripe is for the blood spilled in the service of peace.

The South-West Asia Service Medal is part of the Canadian honours system established in 1967. In order of precedence it comes after the Somalia Medal.