Winnipeg, Manitoba
A Veteran of the 2nd Battalion Queen's Own Rifles, Mr. Van Tassel is Past-President of the Korea Veterans Association Unit 17 and presently President of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping (CAVUNP). As a member of the Board of Directors for the Last Post Fund in Winnipeg, Mr. Van Tassel was involved in a successful fund-raising initiative for the building of a Columbarium in the Brookside Cemetery Field of Honour, in memory of those servicemen from Manitoba who were killed in Korea. He lobbied the Manitoba Government to have geographical sites named after 34 Manitoba servicemen killed in Korea and for a peacekeeper killed in Bosnia in 1996. He also successfully lobbied the government to declare June 25th as Korea Veterans' Day and August 9th as Peacekeeping Day. In 1999, in recognition of his outstanding contributions, Mr. Van Tassel was awarded the Korea Veterans' Association highest award, the Distinguished Service Star. In 2002, Mr. Van Tassel was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of his work on behalf of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping.