combining for 44 years with the KDG. Both men had been called out to suppress civilian disturbances within their native land. Both had risen to the rank of Regimental Serjeant Major: the senior Murphy with the 1 st (King’s) Dragoon Guards, the junior Murphy with the Lothian and Berwickshire Imperial Yeomanry, later the Lothian and Border Horse. Both missed chances for additional combat and, in the end, received exactly one campaign medal and one long service medal. It is unfortunate that William Alfred Murphy died prematurely; he would have

been proud of his son Reginald Leslie Murphy.

Bibliography: Anglesey, The Marquess of. A Histoly of the British Cavahy, Vol. 2,

Leo Cooper, 1975 Farwell, Byron. Mr. Kipling’s Army, W.W. Norton & Co., 1981 Mann, Michael. The Regimental History of the 1st The Queen’s

Dragoon Guards, 1 st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, 1993 Records held at The National Archives Records held at ancestry.co.uk

ATTENTION OMSA MEMBERS

2009 OMSA Board of Director Election (vote for two)

Please find loosely inserted with this issue of JOMSA the Ballot and Return Envelope for the 2009 Election for the office

of Director for the period September 1,2009 through August 31, 2012. Also find biographies/position statements of the

seven members running for office enclosed.

Members who are residents of the United States may vote by mail. Non-United States residents cannot vote by mail. However, non-United States residents personally present at, and registered for, the Annual Convention at which the Society’s Annual Business Meeting is held, may vote in person by presenting their sealed ballot to the Secretary by 12:00 noon on Friday, August 14, 2009.

Important! Please read the voting instructions on the Official Ballot very carefully to make sure your vote is counted.

Thank you.

After you have voted for your choices of two candidates, place the ballot, which must bear your signature and membership number, in the envelope 1harked "Official Ballot." Seal this envelope and return it to the Secretary. Your membership number can be found with your name on the address label on the envelope in which you received your JOMSA.

If you do not sign your ballot and include your membership number, your vote will not be counted.

Ballots returned by mail must be received by July 31, 2009 or they will not be counted._Ballots sealed as above may also be presented in person at the Annual Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Please vote and return your ballot promptly to the Secretary using the provided ballot and return envelope.

Thank you, D o u g l a s

IN THE NEWS

Dustin Hoffman Receives French Order

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel has presented actor Dustin Hoffman, 71, the insignia of a Commander of the French National Order of Arts and Letters in a ceremony in Paris on February 26, 2009.

M. Peck, Secretary

Albanel paid tribute to Hoffman for his Oscar-winning performances as a workaholic father in the 1979 movie "Kramer vs. Kramer" and as an autistic man in "Rain Man," from 1988.

Submitted by William J. Wilson, Jr.

Vol. 60, No. 3 (May-June 2009) 35

THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE INTARE (LION)

ED ESIERING

Ethnic Divisions

The original inhabitants of Rwanda were the Twa, a Pygmy people, who now make up only one percent of the population. While many consider the Hutu and Tutsi distinct ethnic groups, scholars point out that they speak the same language, have a history of intermarriage, and share many identical cultural characteristics. Traditionally, the differences between the two goups were occupationa! rather than ethnic. Hutu were agricultural, while members of the cattle-owning elite were identified as Tutsi. Theoretically, Tutsi were tall and thin, while Hutu were short and square, but it is often impossible to tell one from the other.

Historical Background

In 1890, Rwanda accepted German colonial status without resistance and became part of German East Africa. A German administrative officer was only assigned to Rwanda in 1907, however, and the Germans had virtually no influence over the affairs of the country and initiated no economic development.

During World War I Belgian forces occupied Rwanda in 1916, and in 1919 it became part of the Belgian League of Nations Mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. In 1925 Ruanda- Urundi became an integral part of the Belgian Colonial Government. In 1931 Belgium forced King Musinga to

abdicate his throne and exiled him to Kamembe (current province of Cyangugu), near the Rwanda-Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) border. King Rudahigwa Mutara III, his son, succeeded him. In 1946, Rwanda became a United Nations trust territory. In 1956 King Rudahigwa demanded total independence and an end to Belgian colonial occupation. In 1957, the Hutus issued a manifesto calling for a change in Rwanda’s power structure that would give them a voice in the country’s affairs commensurate with their numbers. Hutu political parties were formed. In 1959, a time of strained relationships between the monarch and the Belgian authorities, King Rudahigwa died mysteriously in Bujumbura, Burundi. Most Rwandan people believe Belgium was involved in his death. King Rudahigwa was succeeded by his seven foot two inch tall half brother, who became King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa. The Hutus contended that the new king (Mwami) had not been properly chosen.

King Kigeli V, who ascended the 1,000 year-old Rwandan throne in 1959 upon the mysterious death of his brother King Mutara III, traveled to Leopoldville in the Congo to meet with Dag Hammerskj old, then the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1961. He was then prevented from returning to Rwanda by the Belgians in what was in effect a bloodless coup.

Later that same year, amidst great chaos, Belgium declared an end of the Rwandan monarchy and named Gregoire Kayibanda President and Prime Minister of the new Republic. A Belgian Colonel, G. Logiest, with Belgian commandos, organized the Hutu to kill thousands of Tutsi, which sent hundreds of thousands of others into exile, mainly in the DRC, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania.

In 1962 Belgium officially granted independence to Rwanda and Gregoire Kayibanda became the President of the First Republic.

The children of the Tutsi exiles later formed a rebel

group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and began a

civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political

and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions

culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly

800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels

defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July

1994, but approximately two million Hutu refugees,

fearing Tutsi retribution, fled to neighboring Burundi,

Tanzania, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of

the Congo. Since then most refugees have returned to

Rwanda.

Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda’s first local elections in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle. A series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years in the neighboring DRC continue to hinder Rwanda’s progress.

The Royal Order of Intare

His Majesty King Mutare III established the Royal Order of the Intarejust prior to his death in 1958. The Order is awarded in five traditional classes: Grand Cross, Grand Officer, Commander, Officer and Knight. King Kigeli still

36 JOMSA

awards the Order. Each recipient receives a brevet and it is the individual’s responsibility to obtain the insignia.

His Majesty and for personal efforts to assist the people of Rwanda through humanitarian proj ects.

Figure 2: A current version of a Knight

of the Order of lntare.

IN THE NEWS

Figure 1: An original version of the Grand Cross of

the Order of the Intare.

The original insignia (Figure 1), designed by Spink, is composed of a radiant gold cross in the shape of the sun with seven thin rays forming each arm and with four cursive "Ks" between each arm suspended from a traditional Rwandan crown. In the double framed oblong center with a red enamel between each border is the figure of a rampant lion, imposed on a red enamel background.

In the current version (Figure 2), the Lion is more robust and in more of a single bordered, red enamel round cartouche than an oval cartouche. The badge of the order has more rays in the arms of the cross and the arms are solid so they do not break off easily with wear or stab the wearer. The four cursive K’s between the arms of the cross were eliminated to reduce the cost of manufacture.

King Kigeli V also awards the Royal Order of the Drum, the Royal Order of the Crown, and the Royal Order of the Crested Crane to individuals for outstanding service to

No Purple Hearts for Soldiers with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

The Pentagon has announced that it will not award Purple Hearts to veterans who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder because it is not a physical wound. This decision ends the hopes of many Iraq andAfghanistan war veterans suffering from this disorder, which according to a Rand Corporation study in 2008 affects one service member out of five.

In May, 2008 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in a tour of a mental health center at Fort Bliss, Texas indicated that the award of the Purple Heart to soldiers suffering from the disorder need to be looked at, but Pentagon spokesperson Eileen Lainez on January 6, 2009 said that "historically, the Purple Heart has never been awarded for mental disorders of psychological conditions resulting from witnessing or experiencing traumatic combat events."

From the Kansas City Star Submitted by Steve Carr

Vol. 60, No. 3 (May-June 2009) 37