We were asked to review a number of images of an individual who has been claiming for several years to be a highly decorated US Navy SEAL Captain. The placement of his Trident / Budweiser badge and the combination of medal ribbons he’s been rockin’ raised a number red flags for us.
The SEAL Trident – The anchor signifies the Navy as the branch of service. The eagle symbolizes the air and holds an item in each talon. In the right talon is the trident, which symbolizes Neptune, the Roman God of the sea. In the left talon is a cocked flintlock pistol, which symbolizes land warfare and a state of constant readiness. If worn as the primary insignia, the trident is positioned / centred above ribbons or medals.
Most unusual was the Distinguished Flying Cross ribbon in the group… Not surprisingly, he’s not listed as a recipient on the DFC Society website. https://www.dfcsociety.org/
The ribbons of the Defense Superior Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, DOD Distinguished Service Medal are also problematic as there is no record of these prestigious medals being awarded to anyone named JOYAL.
As per our long established SOP, in every case in which someone claims to be a US Navy SEAL, we contact our friend Senior Chief (Ret’d) Don Shipley and his lovely wife Diane and ask them to run the individual’s name against the data base of all Navy SEALs. Below is their response in regards to Patrick JOYAL that we received on 10 January 2023.
Based on our research, It’s our opinion that Mr JOYAL is a flat faced civvy lacking any military service and the question becomes – why would he be pretending to be a highly decorated naval officer?
SVC is prepared to assist Mr Patrick JOYAL in determining his truths.
Several months ago, in early 2022, we received an image from a Royal Canadian Navy Captain’s retirement ceremony being held in the United States in 2020.
The sender had a number of concerns with the military narrative and the medals/insignia that “Captain(N)” Marianne Knai was wearing and asked for our assistance in clarifying the situation.
We were advised that she moved to the US in 2017 while claiming to still be in the CAF and seconded to the US for assistance with human trafficking issues until her retirement in 2020.
Now, the medals…
The first medal in the group is the Medal of Military Valour, of which 90 have been awarded since its inception in 2001. All recipients are known, less 5 individuals who are not publicly named due to operational security issues.
There’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in the mix, she’s not listed as an awardee.
The last medal in the group is the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa, all Canadian Forces recipients are known / documented, she’s not one of them…
As to her claims of being wounded in action in Afghanistan, that could have resulted in the award of the Sacrifice Medal, she’s not wearing it.
She’s also wearing the the dolphins awarded to Navy Clearance Divers (CD). The RCN divers specialize in mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, battle damage repair and hydrographic reconnaissance. All CDs are known and while there are women who have serve in that occupation, Knai was never one of them.
There are no Navy Captain / Colonel (O6) Social Work Officers in the CF however, she’s wearing the distinctive maroon stripes on her shoulder boards bearing the rank insignia of a Navy Captain. The SOCW occupation is capped at the Commander / Lt Colonel (O5) level and that individual is the clinical practice leader based in Ottawa.
After a deeper dive
What we do know, Knai was a navy reservist for approximately two years (2010-2012) as a Maritime Surface Officer. She then transferred to the regular force as a Social Work Officer (2012-2017) serving in CFB Esquimalt until she took her release and relocated to the US in 2017.
She had one short deployment to Kuwait in 2015. The service in Kuwait could have entitled her to the General Service Medal – EXPEDITION however, that medal is not included in the pictured group.
Her 7 years of service both Reserve/Regular precludes her from wearing the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD), which is the long service and good conduct medal awarded to all ranks of the CAF after 12 years of service.
We can find no record of her being a qualified parachutist.
The mascot of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Corporal Cruachan is permitted to wear the medals that the Regiment has earned, so this wee fella wears (L to R) The Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, The Common Security and Defence Policy Service Medal (EUFOR Althea), The UN UNFICYP (Cyprus) medal, The Ebola Medal for service in West Africa, the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal and is a recent recipient of the Queens Platinum Jubilee Medal.
This Shetland Pony has a legitimate entitlement to the Ebola Medal unlike Marianne Knai the social worker phoney!
Ex Corporal Robert J McKinnon first came to our attention in the Spring of 2022 and has been shopping his trinkets around to medal mounting companies in an attempt to juice up his 3 x legitimately awarded medals with un-named, store bought replicas and junk British commemorative medals.
No surprise that he wouldn’t / couldn’t produce his MPRR or any other documentation when the medal mounter requested to confirm his medallic entitlement. The questions were asked after it was discovered that the group contained medals that should have been named and weren’t.
Thanks to the professionalism of the Calgary area medal mounting community, who are protecting the integrity of the honours system, this poser isn’t having any success in preparing his Remembrance Day embellishments.
It’s now time for McKinnon to surrender his bogus medals and publicly apologize for his reprehensible actions…
He knows how to contact us.
CHIMO!
March 2022 McKinnon’s collection of legitimate medals, unearned replicas and store bought trinkets.
October 2022 McKinnon’s collection of legitimate medals & unearned replicas.
January – Jack Proulx kicked off the 2021 Parade of Posers with his amazing military themed fairy tales of rescuing POWs, and killing NVA Generals long after US forces had withdrawn from Vietnam. Of course, there are the obligatory stories of him having a price on his head, being wounded in action (shot in the buttocks just like Forrest Gump) and struggling the guilt of being a sole survivor.
Andy Kruzynski – “Dog Tag Dude”. The KRUZER is a bullshit artist and former QOR rifleman with legitimate service in Cyprus. Again, there was no need to embellish his service by wearing bogus medals supposedly earned while on secret intel missions during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. He resurfaced on a number of web sites / groups in Jan/Feb 2021 after making a commitment to members of his regiment to speak only the truth.
April – Hendrik Van der Pol who was featured on our platforms in 2020 finally saw the error of his ways by publicly apologizing for his fakery, destroying the unearned medals/insignia and made a commitment to wear only his legitimate awards.
William Greushcow – The ”Wolf” fooled a lot of good people that he had served with the US Army in Vietnam. To be truly convincing, it takes more than an ill fitting uniform, store bought medals and images lifted from the interwebs. The pic of him purporting to be in Vietnam wearing an Aussie uniform and carrying the FN L1A1 SLR is our fave!
Greushcow has now taken his place in the SVC Hall of Shame and is singing the blues however, it’s not with any uniformed choir in the Ottawa area…
May – former Honorary Colonel Jean – Charles Perreault’s membership in the Order of Military Merit was terminated as a result of his long standing medallic fuckery. Hopefully, his membership in the Order of St John will also be terminated in 2022. The circumstances surrounding his award of the Canadian Forces Decoration and the Service Medal of the Order of St John should be reviewed and the medals revoked if applicable.
Captain Mark “Ozzy” Osborne, a serving CF Logistics Officer was convicted for fraudulently wearing 4 medals without lawful authority. He was awarded a $3500 fine and reprimanded…
June – William R McKenzie who claimed to be a MWO / CSM in the Royal Canadian Regiment and a former member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment took his place in the Hall of Shame.
Mario Grenier, a former R22eR Sergeant who deployed to the Balkans from Lahr FRG in 1992. There was no need for him to embellish his military service and claim to have been “running down” Scud Missiles in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War and wear bogus medals but, he did…
August – Serial poser and boguscombat wounded, commando medic and RMC graduate Corey “Killer Kai” DUPS (aka MCpl McSquinty) was arrested in Michigan for impersonating a police officer. His ridiculous claims are now well documented in both sides on the border. https://www.stolenvalour.ca/2021/08/13/corey-kai-dups-mcpl-mcsquinty/
September – SVC staff turnovers & Block leave.
We were advised that bogus USMC Vietnam POW Kenneth Laroche had resurfaced in the Manitoulin, Ontario area. With the assistance of his enablers Laroche and his military themed fairy tales insult the service and sacrifice of anyone who has worn the the uniform of the United States Marine Corps.
October –“Sir” Brent AdairHabeleter. SVC featured him in our blog a couple of years back, he’s now resurfaced in a video with a new approach – the “Queen’s Representative“ who will address ongoing aboriginal issues with the Royal family.
However, there have been no sightings of his fancy gold rope nor the Canadian Forces Decoration he wore to the legion…
November – self appointed captain/commanding officer Simon “many names” DeRothschild found guilty of 1 count under s419 – Unlawful use of military uniforms or certificates; and 1 count under s130 – Personating a peace officer. He was awarded a $1000 fine for each count (total $2k) and 18 months probation.
December – a set of jump wings were anonymously surrendered to SVC along with an apology for wearing them without entitlement.
So, what’s the current state?
Despite the challenges of operating in global pandemic, a significant staff turnover and the addition of a token sailor to our research staff, SVC will continue our campaign to expose those who stand in the blood of our fallen. Over the course of the past nine years, it’s become apparent that the vast majority of individuals reported to us are nothing more than grifters and con artists who lie, cheat or steal for their own personal gain!
They have used their “special status” to attend military ceremonies and parades, military themed galas and high profile sporting events as VIP guests. Some have participated in fully funded overseas pilgrimages & adventurous expeditions, more have “advocated” on veterans issues without the requisite knowledge, experience or service!
Fakes and embellishers have even acquired trauma support dogs and mobility equipment that should have gone to legitimate veterans. Many have used their fake military narratives and tales of battlefield injuries to advance their employment opportunities & political aspirations. Others are involved in intimidation, theft, fraud including accessing veteran/military discounts, questionable charity schemes, embezzlement and dating scams.
We are well aware of individuals using their fabricated experiences and bogus medals to justify and/or elicit sympathy for their bad behaviour, this is particularly evident with those who claim to have been Prisoners of War.
Remember folks, they are all grifters and con artists…
That being said, SVC has found that Mental Health issues are not usually a factor in the cases reported to us. However, we have piquetted and bypassed a small number of individuals who clearly don’t have the intellectual/mental capacity to understand the nature of their actions. In fact, we have channeled a number of people to mental health agencies as our interactions with them caused us concern.
SVC first became aware of DUPS, who is a Canadian from the Hamilton Ontario area, after we were sent his “graduation / promotion” pics in early February 2021.
Was he the top candidate on his combat medical course conducted at CFB Trenton?
That may explain him being awarded a Royal Canadian Medical Service hat badge in a fancy jewellery box…
Perhaps, the top dude is also awarded a special silk tie?
For considerable VALOR? Canadian Special Operations Airborne Regiment? Lieutenant Wayne Eyre-Jenning? SVC has seen many bogus documents produced by posers, fakes and embellishers however, McSquinty has taken his fakery to a whole new level!Who knew that long dead, US President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was signing Canadian Army certificates? He’s a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada? As a Corporal combat paramedic? With a Nursing Degree?
And, there’s more. Seems that the super soldiers of Delta Scorpion B should have been named to the Canadian Olympic Team. Imagine being able to cross 454 km in 3 hours & 45minutesON FOOT!
And, there’s even more!
Dups was unable to attend the ceremony as he was deployed to an undisclosed location… “Carly Sims – Canadian Press 16 December 2017” , of course, Carly Sims doesn’t exist.
And, even more!
Thanks to Michigan Law Enforcement Agencies, DUPS now has the opportunity to reflect upon his Medallic Fuckery™️, prepare an apology for his actions, surrender the bogus items for appropriate disposal action and become a productive member of society…
A number of individuals contacted us regarding an Ottawa area man who claimed to be US Army Vietnam veteran.
As per our SOP, we immediately scooped any evidence of his claimed military service that was posted on social media including his multiple FB accounts. We reviewed that information using on line resources in an attempt to determine his legitimacy, and we have been unable to find any evidence of his claimed service in Vietnam.
We also conducted reverse image searches of his supposed service in Vietnam. Most of the images have been pulled directly from the interwebs including a picture of Australian soldiers, one of them carrying a FN!
Greuschow has fooled many good people with his claims of service with the US Army in Vietnam.However, to be truly convincing, it takes more than an ill fitting uniform, store bought medals, images lifted from the interwebs and tales of heroism on the field of battle. To an untrained eye, he looks like a legitimate veteran but, it’s a lack of attention to detail / lack of knowledge that indicates that he just followed a precedence chart when he went shopping on-line.
Mr Albert Brum, a serial embellisher of long standing was exposed by our friends at “This Ain’t Hell” in 2017 and he has recently resurfaced. Although, SVC was not involved in the original expose, we have been advised that Mr Brum has articulated a desire to leave the trinkets that support his military themed fairy tale as a lasting legacy of his service to a Canadian military museum located near his hometown.
This has prompted us to ask a couple of questions.
Will his donation include the three World War 2 Campaign Stars that he wore without lawful authority and the Legion of Honour that he was awarded by the French government for his supposed service in the liberation of France?
Can we expect that the US medals and insignia including the Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge (second award) will be included in the package?
Brum would have believe he was a member of First Special Service Force (The Devil’s Brigade) with service in Italy and participated in the liberation of Rome.He then claims to have transferred to 1 Can Para and made a jump into France on D +1 (7 June 1944) as a reinforcement. However, Brum is not listed on the nominal roll of the FSSF nor has any documented overseas service in Continental Europe! His story changes to suit the circumstances, the event and the audience and of course, he claims to have been a sniper!
In fact, he has actual WW2 service in the RCAF (April-Nov 1944) and transferred to the CA (Jan 45-Apr 1946) where he eventually became a jump qualified RCE Sapper who volunteered to serve in the Pacific theatre. But, he has absolutely no service in an operational theatre.
Brum is not a graduate of Royal Military College of Canada.RMC didn’t reopen until Sept 1948 making it somewhat difficult for him to complete his studies, graduate, train as a gunner officer and deploy to Korea in 1949 and again in 1951.In 1949, he joined the Militia where he eventually became a Major in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry serving until 1969.
Once again simple arithmetic and recorded history proves that his claims of post war operational service in Korea and South East Asia are a complete fabrication!
He never achieved the rank of Colonel in the CA, he was never a “CANLOAN” officer with the US Army in Vietnam or Cambodia in 1963 and 1965 nor, does he have any service with the US military as a Green Beret.
Major AE Brum CD should have been proud of his military service, there was no need for him to embellish his accomplishments over the course of several decades yet, he did.
. 
