Soldiers’ Stories: Rita Corriveau, Corporal

Posted: July 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Tags: , | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Rita Corriveau, 30, Corporal
CFB Gagetown
In the military for nine years. Deployed to Afghanistan once.

We were in a leaguer (an all-around defence with the vehicles) and were informed that there were suspected Taliban in the little village approximately 300 metres from our leaguer. A patrol and one section were deployed to search the village. After questioning the locals, searching them and the village, and searching every hut and room in the village, they were unable to enter one room as it was filled with women and children. The locals would not allow the men to search the room, nor would they allow the women and children to leave so they could search it.
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Soldiers’ Stories: Alexis Legros, Captain

Posted: July 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Alexis Legros, 31, Captain
CFB Valcartier Que. Enrolled September 2005. First tour in Afghanistan

It was a patrol in early December. Usually, we attract lots of kids — they want to shake our hands, ask for cookies and get some “calams” (pens). That’s what happened when we entered this village. But as we went by a mosque, we saw a youth standing on a wall. He told the children to go away, and even picked up a rock and threw it at them. We were shocked and told him to stop.
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Scenes from our war: April 26, 2011

Posted: July 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Photos, Scenes from our war | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment »

Tuesday April 26, 2011: The school at Chalghowr in Panjwaii district was to have opened by the time we arrived. Canadians had poured money into the building’s restoration, and the place was looking good. But local elders — the men who make decisions on behalf of their communities — were dithering.
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Soldiers’ Stories: Tara Sawchuk, Captain

Posted: July 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Tags: , | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Tara Sawchuk, 43, Captain
Nursing Officer and reservist based in Calgary.
In military since 1993. Deployed to Afghanistan twice

I tried in vain to think of a single day that stands out — but honestly the days have blurred together. It’s the simple exchanges or experiences that still stand out clearly. I find that whenever I travel to different places, no matter how different and strange a culture may seem, people are the same. And I think I learned most about Afghanistan through her people, especially the children whose experiences were the rawest and expressions the most bare. The experience I had with three girls are an example of this.
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Scenes from our war: April 24, 2011

Posted: July 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Photos, Scenes from our war | Tags: , | Leave a comment »

Brian Hutchinson/National Post

Sunday, April 24, 2011: We set off early morning on patrol, walking west from Salavat village in Panjwaii to a compound cluster. Canadian soldiers leading the patrol were checking to see what progress had been made on a small canal improvement project. Funded by you, the Canadian taxpayer. Contracting work to local populations is considered vital to the counterinsurgency effort; it’s meant to reward villages and their elders for working with coalition and Afghan forces instead of the Taliban.
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Soldiers’ Stories: Serge Leduc, Corporal

Posted: July 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Serge Leduc, 36, Corporal
A weapons technician based in Valcartier. First tour of Afghanistan.

I know most readers would like to read great stories of adventure and action, maybe some hi-tech satellite image tracking of Taliban preparing for a full-frontal invasion of Kandahar. But war is quite often the total opposite, especially when you are a technician fixing guns and tanks.
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Soldiers’ Stories: Randy Zahr, Bombardier

Posted: July 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Randy Zahr, 29, bombardier
Based Wainwright, Alta. Eight years in the military. One deployment to Afghanistan.

I remember there was a day where we had a suspected car bomb or what the Army refers to as a “V-BED” — a Vehicle Born Explosive Device.
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Soldiers’ Stories: Jason Sypher, Master Corporal

Posted: July 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Soldiers' stories | Leave a comment »

Richard Johnson/National Post

Jason Sypher, 24, Master Corporal
CFB Gagetown

I was a C9 light machine gunner for bravo section, part of 7 Platoon, India Company, 2 RCR. My company was conducting dismounted operations and it was high heat in the first week of June.
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Scenes from our war: April 14, 2011

Posted: July 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Photos, Scenes from our war | Tags: , , | Leave a comment »

Thursday April 14, 2011: I was shocked the first time I saw a woman begging in the streets of Kandahar city. Poverty is rampant but I had assumed females were spared the indignity; after all, they are forbidden from showing their faces in public. Why would their controlling husbands allow them to squat on city sidewalks, asking for handouts? But as time passed I grew used to seeing local women — such as the one in this photograph — put in degrading positions. It was sad.
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Scenes from our war: Aug. 30, 2010

Posted: July 6, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Photos, Scenes from our war | Tags: , , | Leave a comment »

Monday, August 30, 2010: Canadian Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance had a plan: Continue the counterinsurgency campaign in Kandahar, but do some things incrementally. Adopt a local village. Secure it, rebuild its destroyed infrastructure, put its men to work and watch the population respond positively by rejecting the Taliban and cooperating with the Afghan government and its coalition allies.
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