Military research earns recognition

News Article / August 14, 2012

By Paul Jankowski

For a guy who “wasn’t looking for any recognition,” Captain Steven Dieter has certainly gotten his fair share of late.

Last November, General Walter Natynczyk presented him with a Chief of Defence Staff Coin for his research into the deaths in the West Indies of Canadian military personnel during the Second World War. On Monday, [July 31], he received a Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for that work.

In October, he and 59 other members of the 9,000-person Air Force Association of Canada will be presented with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at the group’s annual general meeting.

And he traces it all back to working as a volunteer at the Billy Bishop Museum [in Owen Sound, Ont.] well before his military career began.

“Really it was my roots at the Billy Bishop that stimulated my love of history, my love of veterans,” he said in an interview while visiting his home town with his wife Beth this week.

[Capt] Dieter, 42, Owen Sound born and an OSCVI [Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute] grad, is a captain in the Canadian Forces. He is, however, currently serving as the senior public affairs officer for 8 Wing Trenton, Ont., part of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He joined the Canadian Forces 12 years ago this month. Five years ago he became a public affairs officer and “I haven’t regretted a day of it” since, he said.

“I’ve had the opportunity to communicate about the Canadian Forces commemorating Vimy Ridge . . . two Royal tours, I’ve had the chance to work on Operation Hestia, which was our relief effort in Haiti in 2010, Operation Podium, which was the Olympics, Operation Cadence, which was the G8, G-20 in Toronto.”

It also sent him to Jamaica last year as part of Operation Jaguar, a search-and-rescue training program for the Jamaica Defence Force and the Canadians involved.

“Until we arrived it was largely forgotten that Canadians had served in Jamaica between 1940 and 1946 . . . 10 Canadians died during their time in Jamaica,” Capt Dieter said. “With the commanding officer’s permission I started visiting the cemetery, finding the Canadians, taking pictures of the graves, and through a process with people back in Ottawa I was able to obtain their personnel files. As a result I was able to tell the story of what had happened to these 10 Canadians, largely forgotten but still important.”

The men didn’t die in action, but three were killed in training accidents. The others died from various medical causes.

His research became part of the Remembrance Day program for the Canadians in Jamaica. The CBC did a story that Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Natynczyk saw.

Gen Natynczyk came to Jamaica “to finish out the mission, help us close down Operation Jaguar, (and) he insisted on coming and seeing the cemetery and visiting the graves. At the end of his visit he presented me with . . . the Chief of Defence Staff Coin,” Capt Dieter said.

“The mission ended, I came home, never thought anything more about it,” he said. “Three and a half weeks ago I received a phone call: ‘Congratulations, this is the Minister of Veteran’s Affairs office. You have been nominated and selected to receive the Minister of Veteran’s Affairs Commendation.’ . . . I was flabbergasted.”

Since last November, Capt Dieter has learned that were also Canadian Air Force and Navy [members] who served, died and were buried in the West Indies during the war, something he’s researching further in his studies for a master’s degree in military history.

His Diamond Jubilee medal from the Air Force Association of Canada recognizes his community involvement that Capt Dieter, who is the zone public relations chair for the legion’s Ottawa region, said “goes back close to 25 years.”

“It began right here in Owen Sound. It goes back to my work volunteering at the Billy Bishop museum and my start with both the Royal Canadian Legion and the Air Force Association right here in Owen Sound,” he said.

Despite the accolades for his voluntary work and his military research, “In neither case was I looking for any recognition. In neither case was I seeking a reward,” Capt Dieter said.

“The fact that both of these have arrived in such a tight time frame is a wonderful coincidence and in both cases absolutely a surprise.”

This article first appeared in The Owen Sound Sun Times. It is reproduced with permission and has been edited for style.