As the New Year Fast approaches I have thought and thought about the Blog for today, then suddenly I receive an e mail from the NATO Veterans Association, with a very important letter from the Troops.
Thank You for sharing with us and a Big Thank you from Canada for your service to God, Queen and Country.
Salut vous tous
J'ai pensé en cette période de réjouissances de vous faire parvenir le courriel d'une personne qui est présentement à Kandahar en Afghanistan. Cela va très certainement ravivé des souvenirs à certains d'entre vous et en faire réfléchir plusieurs autres. Vos commentaires sont les bienvenues. jl
Salut la gang.
Je reçois ces lettres de Gilles Arpin. J'ai pensé que vous seriez peut-être intéressés.
Dans le cas contraire ou si vous les recevez déja, laissez moi savoir.
Intéressantes.
jp
Hi,
Here is the latest update from Kandahar, from a friend of a friend, with a few contacts added to the list.
Cheers,
Gilles
Hi everyone,
Here is another note from LtCol Nishika Jardine, our friend in Kandahar. It's not a tear jerker but it does bring home the message that we are a country at war and we wouldn't know it unless we saw it on the news. Unless you have a son or daughter, sibling, parent, spouse,relative or friend risking his or her life in Afghanistan, the rest of us have not had to sacrifice a single thing for these soldiers and this war. We've had no food shortages, no metal shortage, no gas shortage, the economy has churned along with nary a blip. We wear red on Fridays but how much effort does that take? When a casket bearing one of our soldiers arrives on the tarmac in Trenton, we cry or at least get a lump in our throat, but then go on with our regular routine, without one minute of discomfort or one day of deprivation. Is there something horribly wrong with this picture?
Alice and Jim
Subject: Saturday Night in Kandahar: Letters from the "Not-War" - Sitrep #11
Merry Christmas Everyone!
It's Christmas today; I suppose I should have titled this letter "Christmas in Kandahar". Our festivities began on the 23rd with a ball hockey tournament among the Junior NCOs, Senior NCOs, Junior Officers and the Senior Officers. There were three excellent and vigorous games, with much hooting and hollering from the stands, and quite a few skinned knees and elbows. Later that day we had a scavenger hunt: do you have any idea how hard it is to find a pink crayon in KAF? My team (the Movers and Shakers) got everything except that darn crayon...where the winners found one is still a mystery!
Last night some visitors arrived and we met them at Canada House. This morning a few of us wound up in the dining hall at the same time as they were, and I have enclosed the photographic evidence for your viewing pleasure. My friend Kimberley and I are not shy about asking for photos! We figure, hey, we're soldiers and they came all this way, and they should be glad to have their picture taken with us!! Honestly, it is pretty neat to be able to rub shoulders with celebrities and politicians just like they're ordinary people. These little things make being over here that much more tolerable and we appreciate that they have given up Christmas with their families to be with us, as we have, really.
Today was a very quiet day. Most people took advantage of the fact that our headquarters back home is off on holiday and therefore not sending us work to do by email, and so we had a leisurely day. In the afternoon we had the traditional Soldier's Festive Dinner - this is an annual event when all the Officers and Warrant Officers and Senior NCOs serve a huge Christmas Dinner to the Junior NCOs and Privates. The dining hall was full - I think we had twice as many people to serve as there were soldiers seated at the tables. I was glad to see that even here in KAF and most likely out in the forward areas, we still observe our most treasured traditions.
For Christmas Dinner, a few of us Lieutenant-Colonels gathered together in our conference room after having "hunted, captured and slain" something from the takeout places on the boardwalk. Donairs and gyros with near beer was our Christmas Dinner, and we had a wonderful time. The funny stories went on and on, and you could tell that we were all pleased to be together and didn't want the evening to end too soon. Not even the rocket attack - I guess the Taliban's way of saying that they hadn't forgotten us - could quell our enthusiasm. There we were, all of us under the table, cameras flashing as we quickly snapped as many Under The Table photos as we could. In a way it isn't very funny, but on the other hand, there really isn't anything much funnier than all of us on the floor under the table looking at each other...after the first few seconds when it is then clear that (a) the rocket didn't land on us, and (b) didn't go boom in our area, and (c) probably didn't go boom at all, thank goodness.
I confess it has been hard, so much harder than I could ever have imagined, to be away from home and Jeff and Michael and everyone, so hard to miss reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas", singing Nana Mouskouri (you know, that song, "...bringing old toy trains, little toy tracks, little toy drums, coming from a sack..."), tucking the little boy into bed, wrapping the presents from Santa, eating the cookies and the carrots, downing the milk, waking up way too early with an eager little face bouncing on your head and all of that. What made it somehow ok was that we were all of us in the same boat and that we managed to make something of the spirit of Christmas for ourselves. That said, I am now glad that Christmas is over and we can get back to the routine of fighting the war. Personally, I am looking forward to New Year's Eve; the 16 month calendar I brought with me had Sep - Dec 2010 on one page, and so come this time next week, I will finally be able to turn the page. And then it will be January. 2011. I come home in 2011. Only 6 months to go.
As I write this, I hope that each and every one of you is doing something special with the ones you love today. I have spent my day today with the people who have become my family here, with them and their friendship and the laughter we shared. These are memories I will treasure forever.
With love
Nishika
I pray that 2011 brings happiness and success to our troops with a safe return to the arms of their loved ones.
I end with this very appropriate video for the season and the reason our troops are so precious to our Country.
http://www.openmyeyeslord.net/UltimateFreedom.htm
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
