Greg Matters family gets Memorial Cross in slain vet's honour
Ex-soldier shot in standoff with RCMP in Prince George, B.C., in 2012, was being treated for PTSD
The family of Prince George, B.C., veteran Greg Matters, who was shot and killed by RCMP, have been presented with a Memorial Cross from the Canadian military.
Matters, 40, was killed after a 30-hour standoff with police on a rural property outside Prince George in 2012.
Matters was a soldier for 15 years and served in the Bosnian conflict. He was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when he was killed.
Matters’s mother and sister received the Memorial Cross, which recognizes soldiers who died during active duty or as a result of their service, in Prince George this morning.
Tracey Matters believes her brother’s death was directly related to his PTSD.
"My brother was a loving member of our family who was known for his intelligence, generosity, kindness and warmth. He was deployed to Bosnia, came home injured and suffered significantly with post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said.
"He became quite depressed. He completely withdrew from friends and many family members."
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The medal was presented by Matters's best friend, Warrant Officer Ryan Seguin, who served with Matters in Bosnia.
He says the military has come a long way in terms of identifying and treating PTSD.
"I mean, are we at the best-case solution? I'm sure there's more that can be done, and more that will be done. Right now I do believe that they have made some improvements from Bosnia,” Seguin said.
"It's great that the military recognizes the injuries that Greg received. It's well-deserved of course."
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office, which investigates police-involved deaths, cleared Prince George RCMP officers of any wrongdoing in Matters’s death.
Matters' mother hopes more details about how her son died will come out during a coroner’s inquest that is set to begin in Prince George on Oct. 7.