Red Friday

Last Sunday I participated for the first time in the Canada Army Run in support of Soldier On and the Military Families Fund.


Let me tell you, an M-777 Howitzer as a starter's pistol - that gets your adrenaline going (and if anyone in downtown Ottawa was trying to sleep in Sunday morning - sorry about your luck!)








I am not a runner.  I will, in all honesty, likely never be a runner.  But I will be back next year.


When you are with people who have given their all in battle, running beside people with no legs, most poignantly, you suck it up and, well, ... Soldier On.


I am truly proud to have stood in such great company for a morning.

Out of the ashes ...

Two years ago today, I thought my world was falling apart.

I have now realized that sometimes you have to go through that fire to cleanse you and make you ready for a fresh start.

I have grown so much in the last 2 years; become more confident and comfortable with who I am.  I can't believe it has only been 2 years, so much in me, of who I perceive myself to be has changed.

I like me better now.  So truly, without sounding pompous, I do believe that the phoenix is taking shape and rising from the ashes.

Look out, world.

Congrats to our American neighbours

Thanks to Thormoo for this graphic.

Congrats to our American Allies on repealing a law that has been on the books there, in some form, since 1778.

Red Friday

Canada's commitment to Afghanistan had entered a new phase, with our dedication to training the Afghan people.


One aspect of that training is discussed in The Maple Leaf's interview with Major-General Michael Day, Deputy Commanding General – Army of the NTM-A forces and Canadian Contingent Commander.


One of the quotes in the article that stuck with me the most is:

About the Afghans, I’ve learned that they are unbelievably patient people. They have suffered for 30 years and yet they are still trying desperately to put their country on the right footing. That type of resilience is remarkable.How does that apply to the training mission? Well, the training mission is pretty simple. We have got to be patient because we are not going to get there overnight. 

Full text of the article can be found here: http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/commun/ml-fe/article-eng.asp?id=7114 

Support the troops/Support the Families - Reality

This past weekend was a rough one for many in the military community; not only the anniversary of the September 11 attack in 2001, but also near to the anniversaries of Medak Pocket (Croatia), of operation Medusa (Afghanistan, 3-06) and the blue-on-blue (friendly fire) incident the same tour.  September has been the highest month of the year for casualties throughout the Afghanistan war.


I spent a lot of time on the phone/video with S this weekend.  I should have tried harder to be there, and am beating myself up for not being there, letting other things get in the way. Not 100% sure he would have let me, but ... I should have tried harder.


He was tired and burnt out from a really rough week at work, was staying up late and getting up early; and continued this through the weekend, with the addition of whiskey and watching too many documentaries on TV.


Supporting veterans and soldiers includes being there for them when they are dealing with their own memories; allowing them to mourn friends; allowing them a safe place to vent their feelings.  Not judging them, or trying to make it better.  Just being there.


Supporting the families of troops is sometimes the same - not judging, not trying to fix, not telling them what they should or shouldn't do - just being there.  Listening.  Hugging.  being an ear.  


Sometimes, that's the best thing in the world.

Red Friday part 2

When it happened, the Medak Pocket Massacre and its aftermath was overshadowed in Canada by the Somalia affair, and now, the anniversary of this tragic event with far reaching consequences is now overshadowed by the anniversary of the incredible tragedy that is known by its date - 9/11.


But the Medak Pocket Massacre, September 9-17, 1993, remains an important event in Canadian Military History, mostly in learning from the mistakes that were made.  Everything from Canadian and UN Rules of Engagement to the way we deal with returning veterans and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can trace to the Medak Pocket Massacre.


I know I have quoted this passage before, but I think it bears repeating:

"Canadian peacekeepers in Medak Pocket, Croatia, found no peace to keep in September 1993. They engaged the forces of ethnic cleansing in a deadly firefight and drove them from the area under United Nations protection. The soldiers should have returned home as heroes. Instead, they arrived under a cloud of suspicion and silence.

In Medak Pocket, members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry did exactly the job they were trained - and ordered - to do. When attacked by the Croat army they returned fire and fought back valiantly to protect Serbian civilians and to save the UN mandate in Croatia. Then they confronted the horrors of the offensive's aftermath - the annihilation by the Croat army of Serbian villages. The Canadians searched for survivors. There were none.

The soldiers came home haunted by these atrocities, but in the wake of the Somalia affair, Canada had no time for soldiers' stories of the horrific compromises of battle - the peacekeepers were silenced. In time, the dark secrets of Medak's horrors drove many of these soldiers to despair, to homelessness and even suicide."

From Carol Off's gripping account of one of the most scarring tragedies in the Croatian conflict, in The Ghosts Of Medak Pocket.

More information can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Medak_Pocket 

Blogroll update issue - solved?

Coffey, my love, you had mentioned missing some of my posts.  I had an ah-ha moment just now.

if I write something and post it right away, then it shows up in your (an other people's) blog roll (I think - I'm going to look in a minute.)  If I write in in advance and post date or schedule it (like I do with most of my Red Friday posts) then is doesn't seem to update in your blog roll.

I guess this doesn't really count as "solved", but at least I think I know what is going on now!  So I can tell the Blogger folks, and they may or may not care, or do anything about it.

Red Friday ~ A Creed for a Comrade

The above video was originally posted by Kanani at http://kitchendispatch.blogspot.com/

To get help for yourself or someone you care about, In Canada :


MAP (Member Assistance Program) 1-800-268-7708 
http://www.forces.gc.ca/health-sante/ps/map-pam/default-eng.asp 


OSISS  (Operational Stress Injury Social Support) through Veteran's Affairs at 1-866-522-2122 
http://www.osiss.ca/ 

Comments.

I can see from my tracking software that some of you are trying to leave comments, but those comments are not making it through.  I publish all comments that are not junk mail/spam type comments, even those that I don't agree with or find insulting.  Please don't ever think that I chose not to publish your comment.


I was unable to comment on other's blogs while using Internet Explorer; I had to switch to Google Chrome.


Please keep trying to leave your thoughts - I enjoy hearing them.


If you know of something I can do at my end to fix this problem, please let me know!


Thanks.


**edit - I changed so I have to approve everything, and now comments seem to get through.  odd.**

Luck

My last post was a bit sucky, negative, and glass half empty.  I thought about deleting it, but as my dear friend Thormoo has observed, it does represent what I was feeling at the time, so I am leaving it alone.


Better mood today.


I was thinking this morning about a lot of things.  Specifically, for some reason, Sebastian's potential 5th business trip to the sand, and his CO's comment that "your luck has to run out sometime".


It does, and it doesn't, really.  I mean yes, eventually we all die, but I wouldn't necessarily call that one's luck running out. 


 Statistically, I don't believe anyone is more likely to come to harm on their 5th deployment to a certain region than on their first.  I don't care to research the statistics, but I would think if anything your training, instincts, experience and  maturity, all of which contribute to "luck", would have increased.


Even if he doesn't go back to the sand, there will always be another place that needs the help of brave men and women like S.  Afghanistan was not his first deployment, and it will likely not be the last.  There are other places all over the world where people are in danger.  Even on Canadian soil, any of us could fall to tragedy without warning.  


I know I am not going to have this mind set every day; part of writing this down is so I can come back and remind myself.  Something to re-read when I am having a not so rational day.

Deployment Prep, Home Front Version

After reading the "Deployment Prep" post from CI-Roller Dude, I felt inspired to do the corresponding Home Front version

Original at http://ci-roller.blogspot.com/2011/09/deployment-prep.html

(You can try this while your loved ones are away for work up training)

1. Stay awake for days on end waiting for the phone to ring.  When you finally give up and sleep, have a friend call you and pretend to be a telemarketer, preferably from the same telephone exchange your loved one's calls will route through.

2. Get in the habit of checking your e-mail compulsively every 5 minutes.

3. Start buying treats, gag gifts, socks, personal care items, and deluxe toilet paper for your loved one, and 6 of their closest friends.

4. Package all the items above into a large box that your arms just barely reach around, and go stand in your local postal outlet for 25 minutes to an hour.

5. Have someone monitor your comings and goings, and signal your loved one to call you when you are in that one little zone where you have no cell service, and leave you a message saying how much they miss you, and would have loved to hear your voice ...

6.  Have your loved one finally call you while someone is shooting or blowing things up in the background, and have them cut you off in the middle of a sentence with  "Shit ... gotta go ... *click*" ... and then not call back for at least 24 hours.

7. Arrange to have the kids, your parents, their parents, and the dog all need urgent emergency assistance all at the same time, while your loved one is unable to help.

8.  While dealing with the above, have someone sabotage your vehicle, and the plumbing in the main bathroom.

9.  Encourage your loved one to start talking to you like you are under his command, and only about military things; you might as well get used to it now.

10. Have your friends all walk up to you with puppy dog eyes and say "How are you holding up?" ... but then not actually listen to your answer.

11.  Call your friend that knows you the best, and cry while on the phone with them.  practice until you can cry through an entire phone call without them being able to tell.

12.  Have your loved one call and say they are coming home ... and then call and say they are not ... then with a new date ... repeat process a few times ... then finally have them call from a simulated TLD location, when you are having a bad hair day, are bloated, and in sweat pants, and say they'll be home in a few hours

Red Friday

I am rather partial to this particular print ...

Silvia Pecota is one of the official "Artists for the Army" under the Canadian Forces Artists Program

http://www.silviapecota.com/index.html 

Chose "My Work", then "Artwork", then "Canadian Forces", and then a caterogy.

Also check out the "Salute to the Troops" under "My Work",

and her upcoming book, working title Second To None: The Canadian Soldier

http://www.redfridays.ca/