Re: Stolen Valour Canada / Imposter

by Tazzer Sun 17 Feb 2019, 12:14 pm

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http://www.stolenvalour.ca/index.php/2019/01/

by Tazzer Sun 17 Feb 2019, 12:15 pm

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http://www.stolenvalour.ca/index.php/2019/01/

by Enforcer Mon 24 Jun 2019, 11:25 am

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Robert Cooper. Wetaskiwin, Alberta – Guilty!

Mr Robert Copper of Wetaskiwin, Alberta – is now a convicted Valour Thief.

http://www.stolenvalour.ca/index.php/2019/06/14/robert-cooper-wetaskiwin-alberta-guilty/

by Enforcer Thu 22 Aug 2019, 8:32 am

Stolen Valour Canada says Cornwall veteran wore medals he didn't earn

Published on: August 21, 2019

Stolen Valour Canada / Imposter - Page 2 CO.Volunteer

Veteran Terry Birch signs the City of Cornwall's Book of Recognition in honour of his receiving the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers on Monday June 10, 2019 in Cornwall, Ont. Alan S. Hale/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network ALAN S. HALE / ALAN S. HALE/STANDARD-FREEHOLDER

This article has been edited to remove a reference to whether Stolen Valour Canada contacted Birch or his family prior to posting its claims on social media, which we have been unable to conclusively verify.

A veteran’s group called Stolen Valour Canada has accused a local veteran of wearing four different military medals he did not earn. This is a criminal offence in Canada.

In a post put up the group’s Facebook page on Tuesday and shared widely on local social media since then, Stolen Valour said it found no evidence Capt. Terry Birch is lawfully entitled to wear the Special Service Medal, Centennial Medal, Canada 125 Medal, nor the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

They also alleged Birch has made several false claims about his own career, including being wounded in action by a landmine during the FLQ Crisis in 1970.

Birch and his family are denying everything laid out in the post.

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“This Stolen Valour crew has set out to make his life miserable, and they better pray that no physical harm comes to that man,” said Shamus Birch, his son. “Right now, my father is frustrated and embarrassed by these allegations, but he has all the paperwork for every single medal that man has.

“He doesn’t care if they take this to the highest court, he has everything he needs to prove it.”

When asked how it arrived at its conclusions about Birch, someone managing the Stolen Valour Canada Facebook page who would not identify him/herself explained it used a wide variety of sources including websites, newspaper articles, photographic images, searchable databases of medal recipients and extracts from online military documents in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.

“We can determine whether an individual is in contravention of laws, rules and/or regulations, and/or the legitimacy of any public claims being made,” reads a statement sent to the Standard-Freeholder. “It was a tedious research that was prompted by a number of red flags.”

The first of these was the story about being wounded by a landmine during the FLQ crisis, noting there were two well-documented incidents involving people being killed or injured by explosives at that time, and Birch was not one of them.

But Shamus Birch said that inaccurate story was not the fault of his father, but was rather a mistake by a reporter who had misinterpreted what Birch had said during an interview. Birch did post the story to his Facebook own page when it was published, despite the error.

“Of course there were no landmines, and it’s not what he said, but it’s what was put down … This is where all this crap is coming from a typo and a misinterpretation of what was actually said,” fumed Shamus Birch. “(Stolen Valour Canada asked me) why he didn’t get the article revoked. My father is 81 years old, he doesn’t always read things closely. But he’s dedicated his entire life to the army cadets, the military, and volunteer work for the military.”

Another red flag for Stolen Valour was much more subjective. The group found the way Birch displayed his medals suspicious, saying their condition was sloppy and some were obscured by his lapel, which caused them to take a closer look. In the group’s view, no professional soldier would appear in public with his medals in that way, which made them suspicious about whether he was a legitimate recipient.

In order to try to find out whether Birch was entitled to wear the medals they saw in photographs, Stolen Valour checked databases such as one on the Governor General’s website and in the Canada Gazette, but could not find evidence of Birch being awarded medals such as Centennial Medal and the Canada 125 Medal, which would normally be published there.

As a cadet instructor, Stolen Valour argued training and employment limitations would have prevented Birch from being deployed to a CFS Alert or NATO mission, which means he could not have earned the Special Service Medal he wears with clasps indicating he served in those areas.

The backlash against Birch as been swift.

Birch’s personal Facebook page – which consists mostly of posts about veteran issues such as suicide and PTSD, as well as a few conservative political memes – has been inundated with angry comments from people calling him a poser, a fake and a zero-integrity loser.

Birch, who has been a volunteer for many years in the cadets program as well as the Royal Canadian Legion and Different Abilities, Vista Centre Brain Injury Services, Red Ribbon Forces and Friends of Veterans (none of which is in dispute), recently received the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers and was invited to sign the City of Cornwall’s book of recognition in June. But in response to the allegations, Coun. Justin Towndale has called for Birch’s name to be stricken from the book.

https://www.standard-freeholder.com/news/local-news/stolen-valour-canada-says-cornwall-veteran-wore-medals-he-didnt-earn/wcm/cdde74f6-9eaf-4adc-bbbd-940eddd7883f

RELATED

Cornwall veteran receives the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 297 also distanced itself from Birch at a press conference that was held by Legion executives on Wednesday morning.

The local legion is still smarting from the discovery in 2017 that it’s then first vice-president, Arthur Murray, had been making untrue claims about his own military service and successes. Stolen Valour Canada also published this revelation, and it cause Murray to resign from the executive and to offer a public apology.

At the time, many people were quite angry with the Legion over the situation. But at the press conference, executives argued that regardless of whether the allegations against Birch are true or not, the Legion itself is not to blame. Birch was a Legion member long before he transferred to Cornwall a few years ago, and the executives argued it is not realistic nor desirable to be fact-checking the military careers of everyone who wishes to join.

“When people wear government-sanctioned medals, uniforms or decorations that they are not entitled to … they degrade the honour and sacrifices that many people made for us to have our freedom and have broken the law,” said Hugh Primeau, legion branch president. “We cannot enforce the criminal code; we don’t have access to individual service records to verify whether they have committed stolen valour.”

Because it doesn’t have access to the information required to verify Stolen Valour’s Claims, the Legion has no way of knowing whether they are true or not, although they expect Stolen Valour Canada has done its due diligence before they made the allegations public.

Should the allegations be proven to be true however, the Legion executives that they will take “appropriate measures,” although at the moment no one is sure what those might look like.

At the moment, however, there is no criminal investigation into the allegations. Although the Cornwall police would not be able to confirm one if there were, but the force did say on Wednesday that they have received no complaints with regards to the allegations made against Birch by Stolen Valour Canada.

ahale@postmedia.com

twitter.com/alan_s_hale

https://www.standard-freeholder.com/news/local-news/cornwall-veteran-receives-the-sovereigns-medal-for-volunteers/wcm/100c476b-4b00-46cc-8007-99d573316b1c

by **Stayner** Tue 08 Oct 2019, 8:55 am

Royal Canadian Legion to hold Cornwall hearing on stolen valour allegations

Published on: October 7, 2019

https://www.standard-freeholder.com/news/local-news/royal-canadian-legion-to-hold-cornwall-hearing-on-stolen-valour-allegations

by **Hammercore** Wed 30 Oct 2019, 8:53 am

British Columbia

'Stolen valour': Man suspected of faking military service under investigation by RCMP

Jason Proctor · CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2019

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/stolen-valour-poppy-veterans-1.5340040

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by **Replica** Wed 06 Nov 2019, 9:11 pm

Alleged phony veteran charged after Afghan vet raises questions

Jason Proctor · CBC News · Posted: Nov 06, 2019

Stolen Valour Canada / Imposter - Page 2 Kenneth-james-french-article

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/stolen-valour-veteran-phony-1.5350264

by Viper Fri 24 Jan 2020, 1:28 pm

Stolen Valour

Dwayne EISEN
Okanagan Falls, BC

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http://www.stolenvalour.ca/index.php/2020/01/

by Jackal Sat 25 Jan 2020, 9:05 am

Stolen Valour Canada claims Okanagan
man seen in uniform has no history of
being a soldier

BY DOYLE POTENTEAU GLOBAL NEWS

Posted January 23, 2020 9:37 pm
Updated January 24, 2020 9:17 pm

https://globalnews.ca/news/6454816/stolen-valour-canada-okanagan/?fbclid=IwAR3DBbVoRP6E3rH9lezRexgNTBQumXICIygAa98pipoqmXxddol4Wj2vT0M

by **Powergunner** Wed 29 Jan 2020, 4:10 pm

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Alleged veteran impersonator removed from Okanagan Legion Wall of Honour

The man had appeared at events including Remembrance Day in 2019.

Jan. 29, 2020

https://www.kelownacapnews.com/community/alleged-veteran-impersonator-removed-from-okanagan-legion-wall-of-honour/

by Caliber Thu 06 Feb 2020, 1:15 pm

Terry Birch back in Cornwall court on Feb. 27

Todd Hambleton
Publishing date: Feb 05, 2020

Capt. (Ret’d) Terry Birch had a short pre-trial hearing in court in Cornwall late on Wednesday morning.

Birch was out of the courtroom in about 15 minutes, and he told the Standard-Freeholder he’s scheduled to be back in court for a hearing on Feb. 27. In mid-December, Birch appeared in court to answer to a criminal charge he illegally wore military medals he was not entitled to wear

The charge was the result of an investigation by the Cornwall Police Service, which began after Birch in August was accused by Stolen Valour Canada of wearing four military service medals it could not find any evidence of him having earned.

At the December court appearance, the local veteran attempted to plead guilty to the charge and explain himself to the court, but he was cut off by the judge who said it was much too early in the process to be entering a plea.

Two weeks ago, the Royal Canadian Legion said it had taken a landmark decision to expel two members for wearing military commendations they did not earn, the 95-year-old veterans’ organization cracking down on instances of “stolen valour.”

Legion dominion president Thomas Irvine didn’t identify the two members, but he did say one is from Ontario and the other from British Columbia.

Birch, before his hearing at the courthouse Wednesday, confirmed that he was the member from Ontario who was expelled.

“They barred me for a year because of the lies being told (by a group of people who pushed for charges),” Birch told the Standard-Freeholder.

The wearing of unearned military medals and commendations is an offence under the Criminal Code, with a maximum penalty of up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Birch in December spoke with the Standard-Freeholder outside the courtroom said he did wear medals he should not have, but he said he did so in error, not intentionally, that he assumed the medals in question had been properly registered.

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https://www.standard-freeholder.com/news/local-news/terry-birch-back-in-cornwall-court-on-feb-27

by Exodus Thu 22 Jul 2021, 4:23 pm

Calgary man charged with weapons offences, impersonating a soldier

Published Thursday, July 22, 2021

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CTV News Calgary

by Phrampton Sun 06 Nov 2022, 3:11 pm

Stolen Valour Canada

Hall of Shame

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