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MMH
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Steven Dieter

Captain Steven Dieter has taken his passion for military history on an remarkable journey. What began with his discovery of World War II graves in Jamaica has inspired an important body of research and writing for Dieter. He has since received several commendations for his work and will present at the 24th Military History Colloquium in Ontario in May. Dieter, who will graduate from Norwich's Master of Arts in Military History program this June, shares his story:

"I began my MMH journey in March 2011. In August 2011, I was deployed to Jamaica as part of Operation JAGUAR, Canada’s contribution of military aviation and search-and-rescue capability to support the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and to conduct essential training for Canadian Forces search-and-rescue teams.

While in Jamaica, I discovered the graves of ten Canadian soldiers, all of whom died during the Second World War. This bit of history was unknown to our Task Force Commander, the Canadian Defence Attache in the region, or the Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica.

I began my research - not only into why the Canadian Army had deployed to the region, but also into who these ten individuals were.

That work resulted in a story featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship news program, The National, as well as a visit to the military cemetery in Jamaica by the Canadian Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Walt Natynczyk. My efforts to trace these individuals and their histories resulted in the presentation of the CDS' Coin by the CDS.

At home in Canada, I was nominated for a Minister of Veterans Affairs (MVA) Commendation, which I was presented with in July 2012 by The Honorable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs. I was also awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for my contributions to military and veterans issues, and to the preservation of military history.

When it came time to develop a Capstone proposal for Norwich, my preliminary research was an excellent starting point. It has now grown so much that I will be presenting on this topic at the 24th Military History Colloquium, hosted by the Laurier Centre of Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies, at Wilfrid Laurier University in May 2013."

 Class of 2013,  Master of Arts in Military History