Should Canadians who fought in Afghanistan be considered for the Victoria Cross? One MP thinks so
'I like to think that there's four parts to it — you changed the course of the battle, you saved lives, you're killed or wounded, and you did an incredible act of bravery. In my books, Jess clicks all those boxes,' Moncur said. 'What Jess did that day was nothing short of superhero.'
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Retired lieutenant-general Omer Lavoie, who led the counterattack that day and wrote a citation for Larochelle, remembers well what happened when the platoon came under fire.
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'Two soldiers were killed almost immediately based on explosions from the rocket-propelled grenades,' he said.
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Larochelle was struck with shrapnel in the back and neck as he defended the strategic position. He remained in his position with a broken back, firing handheld rocket launchers and a machine-gun at the attacking insurgents.
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'There's no doubt in my mind, having seen it first hand, that his immediate actions, fighting while being wounded, certainly cracked the momentum of that Taliban attack and bought us time to counterattack,' Lavoie said.
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'Incredibly, he did this while being pretty seriously wounded.'
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Larochelle was awarded the Canadian military's second-highest honour, the Star of Military Valour, in 2007. He died in 2023 at age 40.
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Moncur pushed in 2021 for a review of Larochelle's actions. He said he wants to press the case for a wider review under Prime Minister Mark Carney's government.
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He said Ottawa should consider new evidence indicating that Larochelle had volunteered for the assignment.
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'They knew an attack was coming and he put his hand forward and volunteered to man that observation post instead of being ordered to man it,' he said. 'So, that is just a perfect recipe for a Victoria Cross and I don't think anybody could convince me otherwise.'
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A motion by former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole in 2022 sought to press the government to launch a military honours review panel. It failed in the House of Commons when Liberals opposed it.
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'The continued inaction on this issue by the Liberal government speaks for itself and veterans are fed up,' Conservative veterans affairs critic Blake Richards said in an emailed statement.
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'Conservatives will continue to advance the case for Jess Larochelle to be awarded the Victoria Cross and will always stand with Canada's veterans to ensure that our heroes and their sacrifice for our country are not forgotten.'
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The Department of National Defence did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
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Ottawa has said that the system for awarding national honours is designed to be insulated from political influence and public pressure campaigns.
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'To ensure fairness and that honours were awarded according to the appropriate criteria, National Defence conducted an in-depth review in 2012 of all of the 20 Stars of Military Valour that were awarded in relation to the Afghanistan campaign,' said a government response to a previous petition effort on Aug. 17, 2022.
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'The review committee found that the process was fair and consistent, that none should have received a different decoration, and that all awards respected the intent and criteria for the Star of Military Valour.'
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