Franck Gervais, via the CBC on Twitter.
Earlier this week, many in the Canadian public were aghast to discover a man interviewed by the CBC during a Remembrance Day service in Ottawa, while fully garbed in a fraudulent Royal Canadian Regiment uniform, faked his status as one of Canada’s soldiers. In the interview, Franck Gervais, a 40-year-old stair assembler and Quebec native, is introduced as “Sgt. Franck Gervais,” and in a comically somber tone, spoke about the importance of Remembrance Day, while wearing a medal of bravery.
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Soon after the interview, soldiers began alerting the CBC that there was something fishy about Gervais’s appearance. His hat was ill-fitting, his beard wasn’t trimmed to regulation length, and his beaver-shaped tags were worn crooked (a faux pas). Before long, Canada’s public broadcaster and other media outlets carried out investigations revealing Franck Gervais never actually served in the military.
The reaction was swift and pointed. The CBC visited Gervais’s home in Quebec, where he refused to talk to the CBC and his wife told reporters that they felt “trapped” and had received death threats.
The CBC then visited Gervais’s workplace at Potvin Construction, where Gervais has worked for 12 years, co-workers expressed shock at the news. He’s been suspended with pay while the company decides his fate. If that news wasn’t bad enough, yesterday Ottawa police said they were investigating Gervais for the unlawful use of military uniform and medals, which comes with a maximum six-month jail sentence penalty. All of this attention for a strange prank—or the symptom of a mental health disorder—seems like a bit much. And media reports stating that “forces members and veteran groups were outraged,” seemed slightly overblown, so we decided to reach out to a few soldiers to get their thoughts on the “scandal.”
The few we spoke with (all of whom fought in Afghanistan) didn’t actually seem to give a shit about this sad character. In fact, they tended to border on utter sympathy for a guy one soldier compared to the sad fate of the “Star Wars kid.”
“I first saw this when it appeared in my Facebook news feed, and to be honest I thought it was fair that this imposter/sham [sic] was uncovered,” said one soldier. “In fact, I even found that some of the evidence (photos with attached commentary) were entertaining.”
The same soldier said “I’m not going to lie, I had a good chuckle” when he first saw the images of the ill-bearded Gervais. According to him “nothing quite works in the photos, it oozes amateur. This dude went through all this effort creating this persona, but yet had a beard, transition lenses, and petty problems with his uniform.”
In other words, the average soldier could pick the razzle dazzle of a fake get up, in no time at all. One glance and a soldier knew Gervais was a liar. But for the public broadcaster it seemed genuine.
“I don’t usually take a personal offence to this type of thing, though I can definitely understand why someone who’s worked hard for their rank, their medals, and basically the right to wear the uniform would be. I also think that all of this is compounded by the fact that the ‘unmasking’ occurred on Remembrance Day, a day of solemn reflection for members who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice,” said the soldier, who was also a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
“I think it’s gone a little too far. I almost feel pity for him, in a ‘Star Wars kid’ sort of way. He took his LARPing a step too far in the completely wrong forum.”
Another soldier with serious combat chops in the same long running war, was more to the point: “lol i dont give a fuck,” he said. “Not sure why it is a story.”
The last soldier we communicated with told us he felt sympathy for a man that likely has serious mental health problems.
“I think he probably has some emotional or mental issues that led to this behaviour.
Frankly, it seems like he was doing it for emotional rather than material gain. If that’s true, then I think he probably deserves some sympathy,” said the soldier who also had combat experience in Afghanistan.
“He tried to bask in the attention and glory of others. He’s not the first person to do it, nor is he the worst,” said the soldier. “So we can get our hackles up about this and make a big deal, or we can just forget about it and feel bad for a guy who is clearly a loser.”
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