John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I join my colleague, Senator Brian Hayes, in calling for all-party support for the Shot at Dawn Campaign. The campaign deserves our support, particularly when one studies the cases that have been put forward. People were shot for wandering from trenches, suffering either from shell shock or post-traumatic stress disorder. We are aware of these disorders now but they were unknown at the time. In one of the cases, the judgment of the military tribunal was that the soldier had become a worthless soldier. Nobody asked why he had been wandering after spending six months in the trenches and being subject to bombardment, mortar attacks, gunfire and so forth. There was no understanding. Not only were these individuals sentenced to be shot by their own forces but their families were sentenced to carry a stigma. This is a worthy campaign and I hope other parties will support the call by Senator Hayes for a cross-party front in the House in supporting it.