As mentioned in a previous blog. I listened to a wonderful Interview on the CBC. I have since been in touch with this intriguing Canadian Mother of three. Who signed on to the reserves of 33 Field Ambulance, in order to experience Afghanistan.
Kimberly Rideout is a mother who has experienced both the feelings of having a son serving in Afghanistan, and the personal knowledge of serving her tour of duty in that forbidding country.
I was able to contact her and she sent me an e-mail that not many Mothers could have written first hand.
A Medical Nurse Kim Rideout.
Kim is part of 33 Field Ambulance Staff, while her son Chris is a Cpl in M Company 3 RCR in Petawawa. Here is her story;
Hi,
A brief Bio? I am not sure what to say. I am a reservist with 33 Fd Amb in Halifax.I began the process to enlist in spring 2005 and was enlisted in June 2006. My son enlisted after me but he is Reg Force so went through his Basic and SQ etc before I ever started my basic. He enlisted in Oct 2005. Christopher is a Corporal with M Coy of 3 RCR in Petawawa.
I have 19 years civilian work as a Mental Health nurse. I am currently the nurse manager of the inpatient mental health unit here in Bridgewater NS. Before that I worked 11 years providing mental health case management services to persons with severe and persistent mental illness. I was also a staff nurse for 5 years on a mental health unit. I have also worked as an RN in cardiac care, med/surg ,geriatric care and at an adult residential center.
I must admit I am very much part time as a reservist so do not know the military acronyms and jargon well. So when you ask brown or blue I assume you are asking which element. I am army. If my father were alive I am sure it would be a be joke about my son and myself being army as my father was Navy. We are by no means a typical Military family as I was a toddler when my father VR'ed. So I don't know personally what it is like to be posted and all the implications that holds for military families. I don't know what it is like to be home with a young family managing as a single parent as the spouse is away on deployment But I did live in Greenwood for 3 years in the 1980's as a civilian and had many military friends. I have heard their stories. As a mental health nurse who has been deployed I can personally understand the stresses that can arise when families are separated by a deployment. I have spoken with soldiers while they were deployed about the stresses of being separated from their families.
As a mother of a soldier it is frightening when they are deployed. Sometimes being military helped me to understand some of what was going on while Christopher was deployed, sometimes it was a disadvantage as I understood very well what his job entailed. When I was deployed I saw first hand what the combat arms did and I must say I am glad my son was deployed before me. When he was actually deployed I could only imagine the job now that I have been there I can visualize the job .But again I saw the working environment I was not on foot patrol I was not in a combat situation so that is still left up to my imagination.
It felt good to be able to see and talk with the soldiers both in KAF and outside the wire. I could not keep the mother in me from surfacing as I spoke with these young men and women about their fears and their hopes. I thought to myself if their parents could see them and hear them as they talked to me they would be even more proud of them. They would tell me things parents may not often get to hear just due to the nature of the work their children are doing and the fact that most parents are not going to get a chance to be in that work environment beside their children. As I said in the radio interview I was immensely impressed. It felt good to be the older female figure who could simply listen and be a sounding board. Just like being Mom again home in NS with my kids and their friends sitting around the kitchen table.
Christopher and his sister Erin and dog Oscar just before he was deployed.
Kim said in her radio interview that while Chris was away on deployment her biggest worry was a late night phone call. This is true for all members of The Invisible Army
Her concerns as a serving soldier both inside and outside the wire, showed her exactly what our young soldiers feel. Kim could not praise them enough for their professionalism, in the line of duty. Especially when they had recently lost a comrade.
To you Kim I salute you both as a mother and as a fine Canadian Soldier.
May the Mothers who have lost a son or daughter in this or any other conflict, be proud of your Childs sacrifice and glory in fine memories. May God bless you.
Before signing of I googled to see if any other Mother served in Afghanistan witha child. Strangely I found another Nurse from the US Army, serving at the same time as her son.
Maj. Una Alderman, the chief nurse officer for the 452nd Army Reserve, from Wisconsin, tends to a patient at the hospital on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Aug. 5. She is stationed in the same area of operations as her son, Staff Sgt. Seth Alderman, a military policeman with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
May all the serving Mothers, and the Mothers of The Invisible Army have a happy Mothers day. Wherever you may be.
Please Support our Troops and the Mothers of
The Invisible Army
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
