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The Gulf War – Canadian Veterans Reflect, 30 Years Later

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Join us on February 26 at 1 p.m. (EST) to hear from three Canadian veterans who served in the Gulf War, and learn how it shaped their careers and their lives.

Thirty years ago, Iraq invaded and occupied neighbouring Kuwait. The international community condemned the invasion and demanded through the United Nations that Iraq withdraw. An international coalition was assembled to force Iraq out of Kuwait. The Canadian government sent 5,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel to enforce maritime sanctions and later to join in the effort to liberate Kuwait.

At sea, Canadians enforced sanctions, monitored maritime traffic, and supplied and guarded allied fleets. In the air, Canadian jets protected air space over the Gulf and later joined coalition aircraft in combat missions over Kuwait. Medical personnel prepared to receive casualties from the war in field hospitals, among other tasks. Soldiers guarded Canadian installations in the Gulf, and later participated in demining efforts in Kuwait.

This event is hosted in partnership with the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada with support from Veterans Affairs Canada.

In English with simultaneous translation in French.

Live via Zoom

Speakers include:

1) Lynn Doucette

Major (Ret’d) Lynn Doucette joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Nova Scotia in 1979. Over her 35-year career, she served as an Air Weapons Controller with North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) in Canada and the United States, in various roles and positions. She also worked with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Arms Control Verification, and coordinated domestic operations for homeland defence in Canada. During the crisis in the Gulf, Doucette underwent training as a Mission Crew Commander aboard an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, deploying to the Gulf in the tense period following the ceasefire. She retired from the CAF in 2014, and lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia.

2) Kim Taylor

Master Seaman Kim Taylor, from Sarnia, enrolled in the CAF in 1979 as a Medical Assistant, after completing a nursing diploma at Fanshawe College. She provided medical care in Lahr, Germany; in Northern Ontario at a Distant Early Warning Line station; at Canadian Forces Station Alert; and at postings in Ottawa, Calgary, Borden and Halifax. Over the course of her 27-year career, Taylor became licensed as a Radiation Technologist and Ultrasound Technologist, and gained experience in aeromedical evacuation and other fields of care. In 1991, Taylor deployed to the Persian Gulf with the First Canadian Field Hospital operating out of Al Qaysumah, Saudi Arabia, where she provided post-operative care to patients. She retired from the CAF in 2006.

3) Terry Warner

Warrant Officer Terry Warner first joined the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves in 1976, at 16 years old, serving with the Sherbrooke Hussars. After graduating from Bishop’s University, he enrolled in the Regular Force in 1987. In 1990, he was assigned to join the 90 Canadian Headquarters and Signals Squadron headed to the Persian Gulf. Overseas, he was stationed at the Headquarters, Canadian Forces Middle East in Manama, Bahrain, where he worked in the Operations Room during the Gulf War, among other tasks. He remained in the operations theatre following the war, volunteering to assist with explosive ordnance disposal in Kuwait City, where he witnessed the war’s aftermath. After the war, he served in postings across Canada, took on a new trade as a Geomatics Technician, and was posted to Bosnia–Herzegovina and Afghanistan, among other interesting missions.

 

Photo: Canadian War Museum 20140244-007_1 CER_38

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English French