From a hospital bed in North Bay, Ont., Pte. Jess Randall LaRochelle pauses ever so briefly when asked about the day he became a Canadian hero.
“I was doing a little bit more than my job,” he says.
A group of Afghanistan veterans, as well as Canadian former chief of defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier, respectfully disagree, and have begun lobbying the federal government to upgrade LaRochelle’s Star of Military Valour to the Canadian Victoria Cross.
If successful, LaRochelle would be the first Canadian soldier to be awarded the country’s top military citation since the Second World War.
“I really do believe that.”
On Oct. 14, 2006, part of the Royal Canadian Regiment were providing security for a road construction project in Pashmul, Afghanistan, an area that would later become known as “ambush alley.”
LaRochelle’s 10-man section was shorthanded so he offered to man a two-person machine gun in an observation post by himself.
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The Taliban attack killed two Canadian soldiers and wounded four others.
As LaRochelle fought back, an RPG rocket hit his position, knocking him unconscious.
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When he came to he saw Taliban fighters about to overrun his position, but when he crawled back to his machine gun he found that it had been damaged. The only weapons nearby were 15 M72 rocket launchers.
He fired them all off one by one, forcing the Taliban to retreat.
“From what I understand, his firing with the rockets was so accurate that he was hitting them directly,” says Bruce Moncur of the group Valour in the Presence of the Enemy. “And that may also indicate just how close they were.”
Gen. Hillier says LaRochelle prevented an even worse tragedy because his position was on the flank of the larger Canadian force.
“Most of the platoon would have been very vulnerable to get hit by those fighters from the flank,” Hillier says. “And we, in my view, would have lost a lot of Canadians that day that we did not lose because of Jess LaRochelle’s valour.”
The next day LaRochelle took part in the ramp ceremony in Kandahar for the two soldiers who were killed, Sgt. Darcy Tedford and Pte. Blake Williamson, despite knowing he was injured.
“Yeah, I was having trouble walking,” LaRochelle says. “And the one officer told me to go to the hospital and I said, after I carry Blake or Darcy’s casket and I’ll go right away.”
Doctors would confirm LaRochelle fought back against the Taliban and then helped carry the casket of Pte. Williamson, all the while suffering from a broken back.
Today, LaRochelle is a shadow of his former self. Complications from his war injuries have seen him lose enough weight that his father says he’s almost unrecognizable. Retired veteran Randy LaRochelle says he only learned of the push to get his son the Canadian Victoria Cross a week ago, and while he’s supportive of the effort, he’s urging for Jess’ case to be expedited.
“Things are not looking good for Jess (medically),” he says. “If you’re going to do something like this, just do it, because Jess would be extremely honoured to get it alive. Don’t ask me how he would feel if once he’s passed.”
Canada awarded the Star of Military Valour, the second-highest citation, to 16 soldiers who served in Afghanistan. In contrast, the United States gave out its top honour 18 times. Australia (5), Britain (3) and New Zealand (1) also found its soldiers to have earned the highest citation.
So what happened with Canada?
Gen. Hillier was part of the committee that awarded LaRochelle the Star of Military Valour. He says they were reluctant to hand out the Canadian Victoria Cross especially early in the conflict because they didn’t know what feats of bravery they’d witness in the years to come.
It’s only now, he says, that they’re able to look back at specific cases and realize they got them wrong.
Moncur, who was wounded in a Sept. 4 2006 friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, says, “I think we’re getting in our own way. I think the humility and the humble nature of Canadians that don’t want to brag or be advocates for ourselves, I think that kind of got in the way.”
A letter has been sent to the Governor General’s office asking for LaRochelle’s case to be reviewed.
Days before the federal vote on Monday, Global News reached out to Liberal and Conservative leaders to ask if they’d ask the Governor General to speed up the process. While agreeing that LaRochelle is worthy of consideration for the VC, neither party would commit to making that request.
However, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said he would be discussing the LaRochelle case with officials.
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