Man seeks return of father’s war medals
About $ 17,000 worth of jewelry, silverware also taken in robbery
A row of Second World War medals taken from a northwest Calgary home last month likely wouldn’t fetch much at a pawnshop — but to family members of the late soldier who earned them, the pieces are priceless.
“It’s important to realize that these are important to the soldiers,” said Pat Hartigan, of his father’s medals.
“With regards to taking somebody’s medals, they basically defame and desecrate the value of the medal they stole because it doesn’t belong to them.”
Hartigan inherited the medals after the death of his father, Sgt. Dan R. Hartigan of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, in 2001 and his mother’s death in November 2014.
They were displayed in a frame along with photos of Hartigan’s father, taken just before he dropped into Normandy ahead of the D- Day invasion in June 1944.
But on Tuesday, July 21, sometime between 2: 45 p. m. and 4: 30 p. m., someone broke into Hartigan’s Hawkwood home in the 400 block of Hawkford Way N. W., carefully pried open the back of the frame and made off with the medals, along with about $ 17,000 worth of jewelry, watches and silverware.
“Could they show up on eBay or Kijiji or something along those lines? Absolutely. But for the most part, they are truly valueless within the sale piece of it,” said acting Staff Sgt. Doug Crippen. “They’re more valuable to the family, especially for those meaningful memories and such about their loved ones who have earned them.”
Hartigan said his father grew up on a farm in Antigonish, N. S., and was just a teenager when he joined the Canadian Armed Forces. He was injured by shrapnel but recovered and kept fighting until the end of the Second World War.
He continued his work with veterans and worked as a historian, collecting wartime stories, until he died at the age of 77 in 2001.
“These were just young men, they were all the same, brave. A lot of them didn’t come back,” Hartigan said. “I think this is what we need to remember ... the actions they took so long ago protect this country even today.”
Hartigan said he’s hopeful the medals will be recovered through police efforts and use of the Internet, whether it takes a week or 3040 years, adding it would mean “a great deal” to have them back.
“I thought about what my dad would say. He always felt that people deserve a second chance,” he said. “I think this person made a mistake and deserves a second chance to try to make it right and return the medals.”