A Climate of "Your On Your Own Now"

[M.Dancer]

http://www.thestar.com/article/672022

For survivors such as Aurora resident Gerry Fostaty, who was the platoon sergeant, the manner in which the cadets were later treated by military authorities remains a hard lesson in the politics of blame and cover-up.

Speaking collectively for the first time in decades, Fostaty and others say there was no attempt to deal with the effects of trauma on the survivors. They were isolated from other cadets and, worse, made to feel the accident had been their fault.

"There should have been an apology for the way we were treated afterwards. We were neglected," Fostaty says. "They just walked away. Once the camp was finished we went to our home units, and the people at our home units had no idea of what was involved."

"I don't recall getting any sort of medical attention," says Montreal native John Hannon, who was 14 at the time. "It was just basically, `Okay, you look good. Move on.' But we had problems with hearing, headaches, and I am sure, in hindsight, that I had a concussion."

"I went through many years of guilt because two kids in my platoon were killed and I had always felt that they were my responsibility and I had failed them," recalls former lieutenant Gary Katzko, the platoon commander. "I don't remember the last time I've had eight hours of sleep."

In the end, a coroner's inquest pointed to a "climate of negligence" and found the regular army captain who conducted the lecture criminally responsible. Yet the only people entitled to compensation for their suffering were the regular and reserve military personnel, a position the Department of National Defence stuck to ever since.

The greatest shame in my mind is that the parents of the 6 (and later 7) dead cadets were never compensated a thin dime. They were even forced to bury their kids without any assistance from any level of government.

[madmax]

http://www.thestar.com/article/672022

The greatest shame in my mind is that the parents of the 6 (and later 7) dead cadets were never compensated a thin dime. They were even forced to bury their kids without any assistance from any level of government.

Having been in the Military... it becomes apparent very quickly that you are on your own. This does not surprise me, this is the way it has been and the way people are treated. Nothing has changed with the Harper Government, regardless of their "pro military" stance. It is pro military spending, but the buck stops there.

The time frame things were different then...

we have this process today.

"Today, and in general, to compensate an individual, a claim can be made to the Canadian Forces and will be reviewed by the appropriate experts, which is currently called the Claims and Civil Litigation Section," says Karen Johnstone, a spokeswoman for the Department of National Defence.

But don't hold your breathe for a different result.

Some of this shit defies common sense.

[Alta4ever]

Having been in the Military... it becomes apparent very quickly that you are on your own. This does not surprise me, this is the way it has been and the way people are treated. Nothing has changed with the Harper Government, regardless of their "pro military" stance. It is pro military spending, but the buck stops there.

The time frame things were different then...

we have this process today.

But don't hold your breathe for a different result.

Some of this shit defies common sense.

Not to demean or take away from the tragedy, but why is this being brought up now, but why is this being brought up 35 years after the fact and why, is it that this Harpers fault. This has much more to do with the DND then the Harper Government, and what about all of the other governments that have sat since then and not acted.

If you want to get an understanding of how long it takes the DND to react, my uncle who suffered a concussion blast from a depth charge on a Corvette during WWII didn't get his compensation until 2003 for it so.....The DND needs a major overhaul, but I doubt any government will ever have the brass to get it done.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Alta4ever

[Alta4ever]

A side thought were was trudeau, Clarke, Mulrooney, Chretien, and Martin on this?

[M.Dancer]

Not to demean or take away from the tragiity, buit why is this being brought up now, but why is this being brought up 35 years after the fact and why, is it that this Harpers fault.

Nothing about the timing has anything to do with the current government. The event happened while the Liberals were in power. As to why now, because next week there is a memorial parade at the camp. The parade has been in the works for quite awhile, longer than necessary mainly because of stone walling on the part of DND and the Army Cadet League who have blocked access, hindered and made themselves a pain every step of the way.

Even as a few weeks ago, an official programme for the event had to be submitted to DND and they excised any mention of culpability and going so far as to imply a grenade accidently went off without any context as to how it became part of a box of training aids.

The effort to bring this up has been the work of mainly one man, CSM Gutta of the 12e Blinde who was the CSM of the company in question. When he found out that not even the parents of the dead were contacted or helped in any way, he hit the roof. It has take him years to track down almost every member of the company and that's why there wasn't a 25th or 30th anniversary...mainly because DND has no interest in accountability in the matter.

[M.Dancer]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Like+black+...3403/story.html

Another article, omitting mention of culpability.