Because of the way the noise of cannon and rifle fire reflected off the contours of the surrounding countryside—aided by the temperature of the air and the direction of the wind—great battles could rage before them in almost complete silence. This image aptly describes a passionate, ongoing debate in this country about how to define military valor and what a Canadian soldier must do to earn the country’s highest battlefield honor. This debate rages furiously but almost imperceptibly this year among veterans, even in the halls of Parliament. Canadian and US troops on a joint patrol in late June 2011, one of the last to be conducted by Canadians during the war. (Murray Brewster/The Canadian Press) At its heart is a growing sense of frustration among some former Canadian soldiers over the military’s refusal to recognize certain acts of heroism in Afghanistan with the modern version of the Victoria Cross (VC). The military says that while it handed out more bravery medals per capita than Canada’s allies did during the Afghanistan mission, no act by a Canadian soldier unequivocally met the “extremely rare standard” required for the highest honor. Canada is alone among its major allies in not honoring any military personnel with its most prestigious medal. Many with links to the military community – including former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole – wonder if the VC has been put out of reach for soldiers, sailors and aircrew today. It is a personal matter of some ex-soldiers.
“I just didn’t feel right”
“It was always stuck in the back of our minds. It just didn’t feel right that nobody got the VC, [that] Everyone else gave one,” said retired Corporal Bruce Moncur, who was critically injured when a US ground attack aircraft accidentally hit Canadian troops in Afghanistan at the start of the landmark 2006 battle known as Operation Medusa. More than 40,000 Canadian military members participated in the campaign in Afghanistan — Canada’s longest-running military campaign abroad. For many of them, the fact that no Canadian who fought in Afghanistan has ever been awarded the VC leaves them feeling that their war, their dedication and their sacrifice is somehow not reciprocated enough. “We do feel forgotten. We feel like our sacrifices are being brushed under the rug, and we feel like, you know, there’s so much of us that’s just being overlooked,” Moncur said. He pointed out that while Canadians mark notable events of the First and Second World Wars — even heroic, bloody defeats like Dieppe in 1942 — “we don’t commemorate the anniversaries of what we just did” in this generation’s war. These are fighting words on the eve of Memorial Day. Bruce Moncur (right) in southern Afghanistan in 2006. (CBC News) “As someone who fought in Afghanistan, as someone who bled and was shot, I am outraged by the fact that many of the children did not receive their due respect and dues for what they did there. It’s literally — literally — the least they could do,” Moncur said. While Canada did not award the modern version of the Victoria Cross for actions in Afghanistan, it did give a number of smaller awards, including 20 Military Merit Stars (the second highest designation), 89 other bravery medals and more than 300 mission citations” — official written report to command headquarters describing the gallant conduct of an individual soldier. Moncur and a group of other veterans – including retired General Rick Hillier, the former chief of the defense staff – have waged a tireless campaign to upgrade one or more of the military’s gallantry stars awarded in Afghanistan to a Victoria Cross. They have focused their efforts on retired private Jess Larochelle, formerly of Charles Company, 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment. Pte. Jess Larochelle, second from left in the front row, saved the lives of several Canadian soldiers on October 14, 2006 in Afghanistan. (Submitted by Bruce Moncur) After two members of his unit were killed and three wounded, Larochelle single-handedly held his damaged outpost in Pashmul, west of Kandahar, from being overrun by more than 20 Taliban fighters in October 2006. For his action, he was awarded the Star of Military Merit. Moncur said he and other veterans have since learned that Larochelle volunteered to stand his ground, holding the entire line against overwhelming odds. Based on this new information, the ex-soldiers are calling for Larochelle’s award to be upgraded. They say they were rejected by the office of Governor General Mary Simon, who oversees the award and receives advice from the Department of National Defense (DND) and the nation’s top military commander. Undaunted, the veterans collected 14,129 names in a petition to the House of Commons calling for a review of the case – only to be told no again in an official response last July. They sought and received O’Toole’s support to introduce a motion in the House of Commons calling for an independent review of how Canada awards military medals. The proposal was rejected by the ruling Liberals. Moncur’s organization, Valor in the Presence of the Enemy, launched a letter-writing campaign to pressure lawmakers to reconsider LaRochelle’s case. The campaign has sent MPs over 20,000 emails. According to the database that tracks them, the vast majority of these emails were never opened.
The Victoria Cross and the Commonwealth
Three Commonwealth recipients of the modern VC — two Australians and one New Zealander — wrote to offer their support for LaRochelle, who is still suffering from ill health and injuries related to the 2006 battle. The British awarded three VCs in Afghanistan and one in the Iraq war. The most recent was presented in 2015 to Lance Cpl. Joshua Leakey, of 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment, in action in 2013. The Australians, a little more generous, distributed four VCs, mostly to their special forces. The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has only been awarded once — to Cpl. Willie Apiata, also a special forces soldier, for bravery under fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Since 2001, the US has awarded its equivalent VC – the Medal of Honor – to 20 of its soldiers for actions in Afghanistan. Five of them received the award posthumously. Second Lieutenant (Pilot) Robert Hampton Grey, taken when he received his pilot’s wings in September 1941. (Veterans Affairs Canada) The last time Canada awarded its top medal for military gallantry was during World War II. Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray — who died attacking a Japanese warship in 1945, days before the war ended — was the last recipient. Until his death in 2005, Pte. Ernest “Smokey” Smith was the last living Canadian VC recipient. received the medal for action in Italy in 1944; In total, 99 Victoria Crosses have been awarded to Canadians or Canadian-born citizens serving in the Commonwealth forces. They were all awarded back when the British still administered the medal on behalf of the Commonwealth nations. The Canadian version of the VC was created in 1993. The actual medal was not awarded until 2008.
Soldiers of the empire
Of those 99 VCs awarded by the British to Canadians, five were awarded to Canadian-born soldiers and sailors who served with British forces in the mid-to-late 19th century in campaigns stretching from the Crimea to the Sudan. Some of them were awarded for wars fought before Canada became a country. Five Canadian VC recipients fought in the Boer War. An unusual 71 VCs – many of them posthumous – were presented to Canadians who fought in the First World War. Another 16 were given to Canadians just over 20 years later in the Second World War. So why haven’t any Canadians singled out for VC in the decades since? It is not for lack of courage. On what is known as Canada’s “most decorated day,” seven Canadian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions near Arras on September 2, 1918. (Canada Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-003179 ) Ten years ago, the Canadian Press did a comparative analysis. Citations of soldiers who had won the VC in the First and Second World Wars were placed alongside those for soldiers awarded lesser medals in Afghanistan. The analysis found that, in some cases, modern achievements on the battlefield exceeded those made in previous wars. So what does a Canadian soldier have to do today to win the Victoria Cross? According to Lt.-Col. Carl Gauthier, the DND’s head of honors and recognition, a VC requires an act of “sheer gallantry” towards the enemy, one that goes far beyond what is expected and meets a rather loosely defined “extremely rare standard.”
“Pure Generosity”
The bar is very high, Gauthier told CBC News. “And it should be, too, because the Victoria Cross, as you know, is not only the highest honor of Canada, but of the Commonwealth,” he said. He acknowledged that while this “rare pattern” is difficult to define, it simply suggests an action that “could be seen very, very rarely, something unusual.” It might, for example, involve a soldier attacking an enemy position alone and against overwhelming odds, or someone drawing fire on himself to save others. Such extreme cases could involve self-sacrifice, as happened during the world wars. Why weren’t VCs awarded in Afghanistan? “It’s just a matter of not meeting that absolutely extraordinary high standard required for the Victoria Cross,” Gauthier said. Before a military member is even nominated, at least two comrades must confirm in writing that they witnessed an act of “pure generosity.”
A “mythical pedestal”
A VC nomination has to go through at least three committees of senior officers — one in theater, one in…
