Memorial Day

Thank you to all our American Friends as they honour their veterans and fallen, and their families, on Memorial Day.

Tap & Drink.

Red Friday - Support the Troops

Joint Canadian-Afghan engineer effort restores traffic on Tarnak River bridge

By Captain Lena Angell

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A bridge severely damaged by a suicide bomber has been repaired through the joint efforts of Canadian and Afghan military engineers. A Mabey-Johnson prefabricated truss bridge is now in place on the section of Highway 4 spanning the Tarnak River that was destroyed on March 1, 2010, in an attack that claimed the lives of three people.

A crew of nine Afghan National Army sappers, and an equal number of Canadian soldiers, took two days to assemble the Mabey-Johnson bridge. About 40 meters long, it stretches over the section of the Tarnak River bridge on Highway 4, a few kilometers from Kandahar Airfield, where a suicide bomber drove his car into a on-coming ISAF convoy. The car was carrying a massive improvised explosive device, and the resulting blast killed two Afghan civilians and an ISAF soldier, and wounded three more local people. It also tore down a section of the bridge, part of a key access route linking Kandahar City with Pakistan.

“I am extremely proud of the work of my soldiers and very happy for the cooperation between ANA and Canadian soldiers. The building of this bridge is a symbol of Afghanistan’s persistence to not let the insurgents impede our country’s progress,” said ANA engineer Lieutenant Mohammad Fahim, who led the Afghan crew on the project.

“We began the project on March 10th with ANA and Canadian engineers working 24 hours a day to complete the job as expediently as possible so as to minimize impact on the local traffic. We had practiced assembling the bridge days prior, and it was incredible to observe the ANA apply the skills and see the project actually come together,” said the Canadian site co-ordinator, Lt Mike Veitch.

Laid over the original road surface, the Mabey-Johnson bridge is an interim repair that permits one lane of traffic. It will remain in place while the permanent reconstruction of the bridge is planned and implemented. When completed, the new Tarnak River bridge will restore two-lane traffic to 400 metres of Highway 4.

“The repair of the bridge is quite significant, not only allowing for [Afghan National Security Forces] and coalition forces freedom of movement but, more importantly, it allows for local Afghan mobility. It’s a main artery, and its repair means that trade and commerce can continue, which is a key factor to the development of Afghanistan,” said Captain Tyler MacLeod, a senior engineer mentor serving with the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.

Something in the air today ...

A number of FaceBook MilSpouse friends and MilBlogger friends have posts up right now about missing their someone.  Odd that it seems to go in waves like this.

Three good friends have their men home safe and sound, and are in the process of re-adjusting to life together.  One friend's man just went back after his HTLA (R&R) leave.  A number are part of TF1-10 and are hitting the 1 month mark.

I got an e-mail today from Sebastian with a number of photos of him "at work", looking hot (in both senses of the word) in his CADPAT, doing the things he does.  A photo montage of "here is what a day is like for me".  I appreciated the photos, and the connection.

I dropped TW off at the train station, and had about an hour to kill before I had a physio appointment, so I popped into a coffee pub with free wireless internet, and did some work, then surfed over to CBC.ca to read the news.  I was reading up on the current situation with the Koreas, and international reaction, and thought about discussing it with Sebastian ... realized that I likely couldn't ... and BOOM, to use his favorite word, right there in the middle of the coffee pub, there came the waterworks.  Odd, because I had been mostly OK up to now.  But the tears are riding real close to the surface today, for some reason.

1 month 3 days down ... God knows how long to go.

This weekend

Quick update:


I am still in the moving process, and busy at work, so my 'net access is sporadic.

When the news broke on CBC about the rocket attack on KAF my heart proceeded immediately to my throat.  Attacks on KAF never make the news here ... so we all knew this must actually be big.

I changed my Facebook status, and sent offline MSN messages to both Sebastian and The Wolf.  Just saying that the news here was making a big deal of the attack, and if they would spare a few words so I knew they were OK I would appreciate it.

Sebastian managed to respond within a few hours, and let me know he was not near the chaos, and was safe.

I never heard from The Wolf.  His sister in law let me know this morning that she had received an e-mail from him saying things were nutty, but he was safe and sound.  I thanked her, and told her that I had sent him a message asking for a few words and received nothing. 

She had a few choice words for him.

I am wondering how many times you can "give up" on the same relationship?  I had given up on a "couple" realationship, but thought we could maintain a friendship.  I admit some of the nasty things that happened towards the end have been nagging at my mind; flames are licking at that bridge.  I am beginning to doubt that friendship is even possible at this point.  Which hurts, but not as deeply as I thought it might.

In my head

An number of my friends, both real world and on-line, have their hubs coming home soon.  Most of them were people whose hubs left the same round as the Wolf.

This would have been bittersweet for me no matter what, since the Wolf doesn't come home for a few more months, but now I have no happy reunion with him to look forward to, and also the fact that Sebastian just left a few weeks ago, and might be gone for as long as 15 months ...

I mentioned this (kind of) to Sebastian last time we MSN'd.  He asked how I was doing, and I mentioned that a lot of my friends were expecting their men home soon, and it was bittersweet for me, and then I told him I really missed him.  His reponse was "I am right here, and I am not going away".  The boy knows how to get right to the point, and say the things that I need to hear.

He is having a rough go right now.  There have been some serious injuries in his section, not boys directly under his command, but his boys have been on scene for the incidents, and there are a couple he is quite worried about.  I am sure they are in good hands.  He has a strong background in sociology and excellent people skills, and I am sure if they get to the point they need help he will make sure they get it.  But still, me being me, I wish there was something I could do to ease his mind, and theirs.

And as weird as it seems, the fact he is continuing to share his life with me, stay in contact, and let me know the little details, is so very, very reassuring to me.  I would have thought I would have been happier not knowing, but there is comfort in the connection, and I am not nearly as stressed out as I expected to be.

Trust is an amazing thing.

The Trews - Highway of Heroes

I had to share this.
For those of you who don't know, the bodies of fallen Canadian Soldiers are repatriated to the air base in Trenton, Ontario, and driven to Toronto, Ontario for a final autopsy. Even in death, these fine men and women continue to give, by teaching our medical community about the damage done and possibly better ways to treat the wounded.
The stretch of highway between Trenton and Toronto that the fallen soldiers and their families travel has been legally re-named by our government "The Highway Of Heroes". It is roughly a 2 hours trip by car. By tradition, all other vehicles pull off and the procession passes unhindered, and every single overpass, and the streets of Toronto along the route, are filled with people wearing red, holding flags, honouring the fallen, and offering support to the ones left behind.
Every single time.
An American Vietnam vet I know broke down and cried when I showed him a video clip of one of our boys coming home for the final time; his comment was if they had received a reception anywhere close to that, there might be a whole lot more of them still around now.


May 14, 2010 — "Highway of Heroes", was co-written and co-produced by The Trews and Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar) and was inspired by the 2006 death of Captain Nichola Goddard from The Trews' hometown of Antigonish, NS. Canada's Highway of Heroes, is the section of the MacDonald-Cartier freeway named to honour those who have sacrificed all in service of country. The single will be available on iTunes as of May 18th and net proceeds from sales will benefit the Canadian Hero Fund (www.herofund.ca), an organization that assists the families of Canadian military personnel through academic scholarships.
The video was directed by Tim Martin.

Red Friday - Support the Troops

Support the Troops ~ Support the Families

Multās per gentēs et multa per aequora vectus

adveniō hās miserās, frāter, ad īnferiās,

ut tē postrēmō dōnārem mūnere mortis

et mūtam nēquīquam alloquerer cinerem,

quandoquidem fortūna mihī tētē abstulit ipsum.

heu miser indignē frāter adēmpte mihi,

nunc tamen intereā haec, prīscō quae mōre parentum

trādita sunt trīstī mūnere ad īnferiās,

accipe frāternō multum mānantia flētū,

atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē.

Carried through many nations and over many seas,

I arrive, brother, for these miserable funeral rites,

so that I might finally grant the service of the dead

and speak to your silent ashes pointlessly,

since Fortune has deprived me of you in the flesh.

Ah, poor brother, undeservedly lost to me,

now at least for the meantime, these things

which in the time-honored way of our ancestors

are handed down in mournful service to the rites

receive, utterly sodden by a brother's tears

and for eternity, brother, a tribute and farewell.

~~Gaius Valerius Catullus~~

May Peace and Comfort find your loved ones in the days to come, brave soldier, and may they feel the support flowing to them from all over our country.

This Morning's News:

A Canadian soldier has been killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol southwest of Kandahar city, Afghanistan.


[Edits to prevent this blog coming up on a google search for the soldier's name] 

{The Private}, 24, was born in Richmond Hill, Ont.  He was a member of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and was reportedly just days away from finishing his tour of duty.


[He} was killed around 8 p.m. local time Thursday while on patrol near the village of Nakhonay in the Panjwai District, about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city, military officials said.


Until recently, Taliban insurgents walked the streets in the community openly and armed, CBC journalist Darrow MacIntyre reported. But over the past several months, Canadian soldiers — including {The Private} — have established a strong presence in the area, driving most of the Taliban out of the area.

Despite the progress, the area is riddled with roadside bombs, and Canadian soldiers find them on an almost daily basis, MacIntyre said.

"His platoon brothers and friends will remember {him} as a dependable and generous man with a quick wit and great sense of humour, which was exemplified by his awesome moustache," said Col. Simon Hetherington, deputy commander of Task Force Kandahar.

"He was a highly skilled soldier who loved his job and whose positive outlook spread to all those around him."

His death brings to 144 the number of Canadian Forces members who have died in the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/14/afghanistan-soldier-killed.html#ixzz0nu3RQlVa

Envirothon

I am once again up to my eyeballs in busy; this week is our provincial Envirothon Competition

For info on Envirothon North America, click here.

I love this week; hanging out with 125 incredibly dedicated high school student re-affirms why I do what I do for a living.  Seeing all these incredibly bright young minds gives me hope. 

Not to mention, I accrue enough overtime this week to equal an extra week of holidays this summer, or a bunch of Fridays off !!   

Take care of yourselves out there, kids. 

(Oh, and a quick update ~ Sebastian hasn't had much access to communication lately, but got a one line "I'm OK" this morning.  I have to assume if he is that busy, he is mostly happy, knowing he is doing what he trained for, and making a difference.)