Welcome Home ...

Today is Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in the United States. So I would like to take a moment to recognize John Coffey (Coffeypot), Sgt Charlie, and all the other Vietnam Veterans.

LYLT, boys.

And a big hug to your wives and families as well.


For Canadians, today also is the final trip home for the latest soldier to give his life trying to bring a better world to the people of Afghanistan. A 24 year old Cpl was killed Saturday. It was his first tour. He arrives back in Trenton today.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3048402

(note: I do not list the name here out of disrespect, but to avoid this blog being found by folks searching the internet for information)

And finally, as our latest casualty journeys down the "Highway of Heroes", we also bid farewell to the man who co-wrote and recorded the song. Terry Sumsion passed away Saturday, surrounded by family, after a long battle with esophageal cancer. I have written before about a comment from a Vietnam Vet on seeing coverage of a Highway of Heroes procession ... and so this post closes the circle.

Bless you all, every single one, from every single effort our countries have made to improve the lives of others in the world, throughout history.

You are all heroes.

Arras

I have a locket I picked up many years ago at a flea market in a little resort town on the shores of Lake Huron.  It is tarnished and battered, but for some reason it called out to me, and I "had to have it".  My guess is it is pewter, and was once plated with silver, but most of the silver is long gone.  On the front is a regimental crest that I have not yet had identified (although not from lack of trying) and on the back, inside a wreath of ivy leaves, is engraved the word "Arras".

A dear old gentleman I knew as a teenager, a WWII veteran and long time Canadian Forces member, who went on to serve in the diplomatic service,  told me that soldiers would have these lockets made when going in to battle, and send them home to their sweethearts.  I dearly wish my locket could talk,and tell me its story.

I am sitting here today watching a History Channel Documentary on Normandy, and was thinking about my locket.  While I cherish the locket for reasons I can't name, the thought crossed my mind of this tradition in a modern setting.  I would not want a locket commemorating Panjawaii or Nahkonay; from Medak or Sarajevo.  I do not want a pice of jewellry to remind me of a place a loved one or friend experienced the realities of war.

I do wear jewellry, mementos to remind me of my loved ones, and maybe to some that is equally strange.  I choose to remeber the person, not the event.

Today's musings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arras itself is a village in Northern France, in the heart of the Artois region.  The Dutch call the village Atrecht, and it is founded on the site of an ancient Celt village called Nemetocenna, in homage to a sacred grove that once stood on the spot.

If you look up the Battle of Arras in Wikipedia, you get 5 results.  One from 1654, 3 from WWI, and 1 from WWII.  I don't know which Arras my locket refers to, although I think we can rule out the one in 1654.  I believe the lockets are a WWII tradition, so I will assume it is from that one.

What is referred to as the First Battle of Arras began October 1, 1914, and was a conflict between France (which, although it lost the major battle, managed to hold Arras itself) and the German Empire.

The Battle at Vimy Ridge was part of the larger WWI assault referred to as the Battle of Arras, April 9 to May 16, 1917.  It is an interesting historical side note that since Newfoundland did not agree to become part of Canada until 1949, in the records for Arras it is listed separately as one of the combatants, equal along side of The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand 


The offensive referred to as the Second WWI Battle of Arras was August 26, 1918, as part of the Second Battle of the Somme, and the Hundred Days Offensive. 

The WWII Battle of Arras, commencing May 21, 1940, was a "tank war" fought as part of the Battle of France.

Red Friday - Support the Troops

Thanks to Sebastian for forwarding this ....

Possible Kleenex alert.

This is a true story !



http://www.snopes.com/military/charliebrown.asp
 
The real Charlie Brown


Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is - one engine dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up.. It was ready to fall out of the sky. (This is a painting done by an artist from the description of both pilots many years later.) Then realize that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it.


Now read the story below. I think you'll be surprised .

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th BomberGroup at Kimbolton, England . His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.


After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Stigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had

never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

BF-109 pilot Franz Stigler

B-17 pilot Charlie Brown

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England . He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe . When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew.. After years of research, Franz was found {edit add: living peacefully in Vancouver, BC, Canada}. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.


They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

(L-R) German Ace Franz Stigler, artist Ernie Boyett, and B-17 pilot Charlie Brown.


When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler later said, "I didn't have the heart to finish those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute.

Both men died in 2008

Memorial Day

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

Tap & Drink.

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.

Things not to say, part ... ???

Kanani Fong, who recently was re-united with her hubs after he returned form a deployment in the sandbox as a surgeon, has written a post about one of the things returning veterans, and task force home front, have to face before, during, and after deployments.  Rude, and/or well meaning but ill informed, humans. Stupid questions and comments.


Kanani's post is much better written than mine, and generally this post was just to direct you to her blog.  

Of course, being me :-) I will add a few to her list of things not to say/ask.  Some of them will be repeats of things I have mentioned before.

• "you're not really a veteran.  That's just for WWI, WWII, and Viet Nam"
• "You're not really going to stay loyal to (your SO) while he is gone, are you?"
• "So, are you going to fly to (sandbox) and see him over Christmas?"
• "Wow, aren't you worried that he is going to get killed?"
• "Do you miss him?" (you don't need to ask this *every*time*you*see*me*)
• "How can you love/support someone who kills people for a living?" (Really.  From a clerk in a store.)
  

Poppies and Crucifixes

I am nominally Catholic.  One of the traditions in the Catholic Church is that for the season of Lent, leading up to Easter, the crucifixes are covered or removed, and the Holy Water in the entrance of the church is removed (sometimes replaced with sand).  I would also quit wearing my crucifix, and change to a plain gold cross.  The lack of these familiar things startles your brain, kicks you out of your routine, and makes you actually think about their significance, their meaning, and doing without them.

This year I have had the same reaction to taking off my poppy and leaving it on the cenotaph on November 11th.  I have been reaching for it the last couple of mornings to put it on, and its not there.  I have been checking my coat or my shirt to make sure it hasn't fallen, and its not there.

And every time I look and its not there, I think again of the sacrifices made by so many, past and present, and I remember.

What is a veteran?

veteran [vet-er-uhn, ve-truhn] /ˈvɛtərən, ˈvɛtrən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a person who has had long service or experience in an occupation, office, or the like: a veteran of the police force; a veteran of many sports competitions.

2.	a person who has served in a military force, esp. one who has fought in a war: a Vietnam veteran.

–adjective

3.	(of soldiers) having had service or experience in warfare: veteran troops.

4.	experienced through long service or practice; having served for a long period: a veteran member of Congress.

5.	of, pertaining to, or characteristic of veterans.

---

Origin:
1495–1505; < L veterānus mature, experienced, equiv. to veter- (s. of vetus) old + -ānus -an

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

RANT WARNING

I support the Royal Canadian Legion, and am a member. I support veterans. I support our troops. I wear red on Fridays to show my support. The vast majority of the people I encounter in my day to day life are good, supportive people.

I just need to get this off my chest.

Some legions, as we approach Rememberance day, are calling for volunteers to help, as the "veterans" are getting older, and cannot do as much. I say pitch in, folks! Help out, support the cause.

But maybe some legions need to step back and take a good, long, hard look at what they are really about, and what a veteran is.

This summer, when we were both "home" for the Wolf's block leave, he was talking with some folks at the local legion. He got told he "didn't count" a veteran. Veterans, to some folks, including these particular legion members, were people who had served in WW I, WW II, Korea, the Boer War, or Vietnam. Period. That's it. Closed club. Sorry about all the crap you experienced in the theaters you have been in, soldier, you are not a vet.

He was hurt by this. Very hurt. I was angry.

I can't help but think of this when I hear of Legions crying for help.

I bar tend at our local Legion, and on Fridays we are allowed to wear our red "Support Our Troops" shirts. I have a very nice red golf shirt, with a collar, that has the yellow ribbon and the SoT logo embroidered on it. Tasteful and respectful, IMHO. The older folks in the Legion don't like this, and feel we shouldn't be able to wear our red to work on Fridays. They are not shy at all about pointing it out, to our faces. Not particularly politely, may I add. I have held my tongue thus far.

Maybe, just maybe, the Legions that are crying out for want of volunteers need to take a bit of a look at themselves and the stereotypes they are holding on to. Maybe, just maybe, if they want younger folks involved, they need to stop holding themselves apart from the modern CF family, and the younger generations.

This is, I know for a fact, not true of all Legions. it is, however, true to a degree in many.