CBC Vancouver ran a story on the risks of cliff jumping in Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver (2 August 2024) and an individual claiming to be a survivor of a similar jump gone wrong decades ago injected himself into the article.

Barry MacRury claimed to have been an ex US Navy frogman (1969-1972) presumably to establish his water safety credentials and even submitted a photograph of himself wearing choker whites embellished with Lt Commander rank insignia, US Navy SEAL Trident and a bizarre assortment of ribbons indicating service in Vietnam.

MacRury stated that he had erroneously sent CBC the image and asked it be removed from the original article.

Of course, the image resulted in a flurry of emails to us questioning his military status. So, as per our long established SOP, we contacted him to provide him the opportunity to sort out the situation / protect his reputation.

After a bit of a dick dance, MacRury eventually said that the image was sent in error to CBC. He was emphatic that “it was not stolen valour”.  Weird, eh? He’s dressed up as Lt Commander in the US Navy and he lectures us on what is and what isn’t stolen valour!

He also refused to confirm that the image that he sent to CBC Vancouver was him and then blocked us from further comms.

That just caused us to dig a wee bit deeper and we requested the assistance of our American counterparts in obtaining MacRury’s DD214. US veterans receive this certificate of release or discharge from Active Duty. This document which is publicly releasable details of an individual’s  military career (less medical / pay information) and includes training, qualifications, deployments, awards and medals.

The truth is out there, and we’re a patient bunch…

29 August 2024
Senior Chief Don Shipley says no…