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An Irish army officer who served a UN mission that was attacked in Congo in 1961, has welcomed the establishment of a review group on the issue of medals for gallantry.
Noel Carey was the youngest of the 10 Irish Army officers in Jadotville when the mission was attacked by an army of more than 3,000 mercenaries.
Ireland’s 35th Battalion ‘A’ Company halted the attack for five days despite being ill-equipped and outnumbered, before they were forced to surrender.
They suffered no fatalities, but did cause a significant number of casualties to the enemy.
The action of his commanding officer, Major Pat Quinlan, is cited in military textbooks around the world as the best example of the use of so-called perimeter defense.
Upon their return to Ireland, the bravery of the men who fought at Jadotville was not recognized and many were left with a sense of shame for surrendering.
Colonel Quinlan recommended the men of 35th Battalion ‘A’ the Distinguished Service Medal for bravery, who also recommended that five of them be awarded the Military Medal for bravery, the highest award in the Irish Army.
The Defense Forces conducted a review of the events in Jadotville in 2004 and recommended that the contribution of the 35th Battalion be recognized and various initiatives pursued.
In 2017, the government decided to award the newly commissioned ‘Jadotville Medal’ to each member of the battalion, including the families of members who have since died, in recognition of the brave actions of the men during the siege.
However, activists want the original gala medals recommended by Col Quinlan to be awarded.
Last night, Defense Minister Simon Coveney told Seanad that the issue of these medals of gallantry will be considered by an independent group of experts.
Mr. Coveney said that from September 13-17, 1961, the men of Company A were subjected to almost constant attacks and that at the end of the siege they were taken prisoner before being released on October 25.
He said that in 1962 and 1965, a constituted medal board considered the issue of awarding medals, but none were awarded for any citations that Jadotville mentioned, and despite subsequent review, the board was not prepared to alter its findings. .
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr. Carey said: “I hope that we veterans will have the opportunity to tell our story to the board when the time comes. This was totally denied to us when we returned in December 1961 to a situation where no one knew this happened. ”
He said the communications were “naturally appalling” at the time and left there, saying that “the efforts of the Defense Forces were to erase us from the history of the army.”
Mr. Carey said that just because of the efforts of some veterans, and Declan Power, who wrote about the incident in his book ‘The Siege of Jadotville’, the story would never have been told.
Mr. Power, who is a former member of the Defense Forces, said the review group will serve as “one last link in the chain” to address the long-standing issue.
“The Army was limited by regulations for many years trying to find a solution to this,” and what is happening now is taking it to an outside group to analyze it and take things in context.
Mr. Power said that the lack of documentary evidence is a problem, but Mr. Carey was one of the recommended soldiers for distinguished service for taking up a position himself during a bombing raid and leaving command of a machine gun.
He said the importance here is finding the right tone between seeing that justice can be done with respect to restoring value and reputation, and ensuring that the decorations continue to retain their highly sought-after status.
For her part, Carey said she always believed that any award should be based solely on merit.
He said Colonel Quinlan’s bravery in particular should be commended.
“If it wasn’t for Pat Quinlan, I probably wouldn’t be here today. Pat Quinlan’s bravery wasn’t just there (in the Congo) when we were held prisoner. He was an absolute hero and should be the person who gets the highest honor from this board of review “.
In 2016, Company ‘A’ received a Presidential Unit Commendation for its collective role in the siege.
The group of outside experts will include former military personnel, a historian and an academic to examine all the details of the case.
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