Ontario family reunited with war medal missing since veteran died in 2011

The family of Canadian soldier Stefan Jankowski has been reunited with a military medal that disappeared around the time of his death in 2011.

He’s from Windsor, Ont., and was a trooper with the Royal Canadian Dragoons. He earned the honour for serving in Afghanistan.

Jankowski was 25 when he died, after returning home and battling post-traumatic stress.

Kyle Scott is a retired solider from Alberta who spends a lot of time investigating lost or stolen medals. He tries to return them to families.

Scott came across Jankowski’s medal in a collection and bought it for around $400.

“We have a fairly small military and fairly small police force, so they’re not overly prolific in our society,” he told CBC News. “But at the end of the day, these things get out into the world in a lot of different ways.” 

“They get handed down through the generations to other family members. And then maybe they don’t care about them or it gets far enough down the line that the importance of those medals hasn’t been taught to the family … then that family member sells them or gives them away. They get stolen. They get lost when people move.”

After making an appeal on social media on Feb. 22, Scott said it took just 30 minutes for his Facebook followers to connect him with the family.

The first point of contact was with Jankowski’s daughter, Destiny, who was seven when her dad died two years after his deployment.

“She was actually kind of shocked because she didn’t even know that her dad had earned a medal and apparently it went missing sometime around his funeral,” Scott said.

Destiny Timothy-Jankowski told CBC Radio’s Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge Tuesday she broke down when she saw his post and they connected.

“It really just feels like a piece of him was coming home. It opened so many new connections and memories and being able to talk to my dad’s friends and hear these stories. I owe it all to Kyle, and I’m so thankful.”

Scott also served in Afghanistan at one time.

“It’s important to see that these get back to the families. It was important to track it down — [and] being that it was a less common last name helped straight away.” 

The medal was returned in a ceremony on Sunday at the Legion hall on Marentette Avenue in Windsor. 

The General Campaign Star for South-West Asia is awarded to members of the Canadian Forces and members of allied forces working with the Canadian Forces, who are deployed in the presence of an armed enemy.

It’s a gold-coloured, four-pointed star, representing the cardinal points of a compass bearing on the obverse, built-up in order from the back. 

Timothy-Jankowski said the day of the ceremony was very emotional.

“Talking to the people my dad spoke to and being able to hear what he’s done for others and how he’s affected all these other people in the room really just took a big toll on me.”

She said she learned a lot about his character as a soldier and as a person.

“He really never gave up on anybody and he always wanted somebody to do better than him. It’s just something that I admire and inspire to be. Just being able to look at that with the pride that he would have, and knowing that he is still here with me and … that he’s proud of me.”