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Sadly, not every award recipient was able to attend the ceremony. One veteran, Walter Kaspar, a former RCAF pilot, is in hospital. He’ll get his medal on Remembrance Day.

Another veteran, George Bova, died last week. He was 94. However, two of his sons, Ron and Steve Bova, were on hand to represent him.

“We are very honoured to receive this award on my father’s behalf,” said Ron. “We wish he was here with us tonight.”

Bova joined the RCAF in 1942 at the age of 21. After his training he was sent overseas, serving as a radio operation with Bomber Command in Halifax and Lancaster bombers. He flew 60 missions. During the D-Day landings and later, Bova’s squadron flew sorties to “soften” German defences.

“It was extremely dangerous,” Steve said, recalling his father wartime accounts. “They were the first to arrive to mark the target (for the bombers coming behind them) and then they had to orbit the target in the middle of all the flak.”

Indeed, on one mission flak from a German anti-aircraft battery punched a hole in window inches from Bova’s head. Another time, a plane flying overhead dropped one its bombs on Bova’s plane.

“One time the pilot told him to keep an eye on a plane next to them that getting too close,” said Steve. “My dad was watching it carefully when all of a sudden it just exploded. Seven men gone, just like that.”

“He marvelled that he survived,” Ron added. “Sixty missions — the odds were against him surviving. I would imagine it was very hard (to return to civilian life) after risking your life every night and putting up with all that stress. As he got older, he used to say, ‘We were just lucky.'”