In Respect of the Loss of MCpl. Pat Audet & Cpl Martin Joannette

So very sad this week’s become for Canada weeps again

We cannot rest, our prayers flow forth

We need to stop this chain

These events have shattered our hearts and minds

As well it’s shattered theirs

Our Soldiers, our hearts who’ve stepped forth to serve

This has touched their deepest nerve

For to watch or learn of a friend so close

Lost in their efforts to defend

A better world, a kinder place

With a respect for all mankind

A world that stands and walks beside

Those needing to stand up on their own

Those who’ve been pushed and prodded down

That they feel safe within their home

Oh Lord though accidents happen

In these such dangerous tasks

It’s so hard to reconcile this loss

With so many in recent past

Of a country which thrives within in peace

They’ve stepped forth their light to shine

To show a world a better way

A right for all mankind

They will not be forgotten

These sons of Canada

The measure of this loss so dear

Such a burden to all of us

Your efforts will not be forgotten.

You are Canada, and you and your fellow troops are in our hearts.

***

***

MCpl Audet & Cpl Joannette were killed on 6 Jul 2009 when their Griffon helicopter crashed.

***

Master Cpl. Pat Audet and Cpl. Martin Joannette, we knew you not, but our prayers reach out for you, your loved ones, friends, and fellow soldiers. We do, so dearly, thank you and your loved ones for your efforts towards making our world a better place.

***

By: Roger Borchert

The Borchert Family Slave Lake Alberta

PW - FROM JUNO TO FALAISE

From Juno to Falaise

From Canada's shore in forty four,

went a soldier brave and true.

To the northern sea of Normandy

in the muggy month of June.

To fight for right and liberty

--To freedom's banner raise

--To overtake the Germans' stakefrom Juno to Falaise.

By shattered moon on the 6th of June

he hit the Juno shore.

By firm of will, he climbed the hill

amidst the cruel of war.

Through marshy reeds and fiery mead

she brooked the

-- Longest Days.

His strength was spent, yet on he went

from Juno to Falaise.

With endless woe, he pressed the foe

he won the streets of Caen.

Falaise he capped and closed the gap.

Morning brought new dawn.

--Lest we Forget, for freedom's debt

the price one always pays.

Of those who lay along the way

from Juno to Falaise

With victory won, a gift, has come

freely from the hand,

of one who gave his all, to save

this battled-weary land.

And Canada's best was laid to rest

at Bretteville on the Laize.

In a quiet grave, beside the way

from Juno to Falaise.

Reason: In credit to those men of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, who, with great sacrifice, embarked on Juno Beach, June 6th 1944, and the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division 4th Canadian Armored Division who pursued the campaign to Victory at Falaise.

Especially Uncle Francis of the 17th Duke of Yorks' Royal Canadian Hussars. 'May he rest in Honor' Canadian War Memorial Cemetary, 'Bretteville Sur Laize' on the road to Falaise "Though Lost to View-To Memory Dear" Francis (Danny) Lyman Burrows.

by Dave Burrows

On Assignment in Afghanistan: Maritimers at War

Description:

While the Maritimes represent only about seven percent of Canada’s population, approximately 35 percent of the troops stationed in Afghantistan call one of the Maritime provinces home. On Assignment in Afghanistan includes dramatic and moving photographs of the Maritime soldier’s experience serving in the war, photographs that capture life on the base, work and play, and staying connected to home. After one week of survival training in Virginia, two Chronicle Herald staff members, photographer Christian Laforce and reporter Chris Lambie, travelled to Afghanistan where they were embedded with troops at the Canadian Base that surrounds the airport in Khandahar. They spent one month meeting and interacting with hundreds of soldiers from the Maritimes, most of whom arrived in Khandahar via the base at Gagetown, New Brunswick. The journalists were privy to the day-to-day lives of the soldiers, living life on the base as they do and going with them on patrols.

The book will reprint the best articles and reports from the Chronicle Herald as well as all-new material for those of us back home attempting to understand the challenges troops face in their work as soldiers, especially so far from home. Accounts from the soldiers themselves, as well as stories about the support they receive from family, friends and strangers across the Maritimes are included. For everyone who knows someone serving overseas, for everyone who wants to understand how the troops cope with the tragedies and the politics of war, On Assignment in Afghanistan will provide a firsthand account of what life is like for Maritimers at war.

Sask. profs slam scholarship for fallen soldiers' children

A group of professors in Saskatchewan are criticizing a scholarship that's being offered to the children of fallen Canadian soldiers, calling it a "glorification of Canadian imperialism in Afghanistan."

Sixteen University of Regina professors have drafted an open letter to school president Vianne Timmons, stating their concerns.

"It's about associating heroism with the military intervention of Afghanistan," said Jeffrey Webber, a political-science professor at the school. "We think it's aligning a public university -- without any consultation with its students or staff, or the broader community -- with support for this war."

The program, called Project Hero, provides financial aid for children of Canadian Forces personnel who die while serving in an active mission

(for more on the story click here)

By Josh Campbell, Regina Leader-Post; Canwest News Service

Mississauga names park for fallen soldier Marc Diab

The City of Mississauga has renamed a local park in honour of Trooper Marc Diab,

who died in a roadside bomb explosion north of Kandahar a year ago.

Posted @ the Nation Post: March 10, 2010, 4:41 PM by Rob Roberts

By Megan O’Toole, National Post

PW - The Fallen Soldier, Fallen Soldier All Alone

Fallen Soldier Far From Home.

Trickling Down His Face A Tear,

Forgetting How It Feels To Fear

Death And All It's Fate And Glory.

Now It's Here, No Need To Worry.

Fallen Soldier All Alone

Fallen Soldier Far From Home

He's One Of Those They'll All Forget;

The Life He Lived, The Goals He Set,

The Ones He Loved, The Ones Who Wait

To See His Nearly Forgotten Face.

Fallen Soldier All Alone

Fallen Soldier Far From Home

Now Breathing's Just A Waste Of Breath

And Living's Just A Waste Of Death

As He Searches For A New Address;

A Brand New Home Free Of Loneliness.

Fallen Soldier All Alone

Fallen Soldier Far From Home

Lying Motionless On The Ground,

The Battle Raging All Around.

For Now He Is Not All Alone.

This Fallen Soldier Is Welcomed Home.

by Branden Hidalgo

I Face the Foe In Darkness

"I face the foe in darkness,
on a sandy white beach
facing the hidden foe.
I face the foe in darkness, with no fear.

I face the foe in darkness,
with no fear of Death's Embrace
the last cold embrace man will know.

I run up to a fence off death;
my black weapon of death wielded in my dirty hands.
I face the foe in Darkness,
using all my rage against the foe.

Thee un up to the walls of stone of thy foe,

and I fall with thy comrades.
Thence I have fallen with my friends,
in mighty battle."

The hearse bearing Capt. Matthew Dawe

leaves the Royal Military College in Kingston

on the way to the funeral service

by Noel Micheal Guscott

Noel was inspired by they men and women of the Canadian Forces and their dedication especially due to the long line of Military history in his family.

He wrote this poem shortly after the passing of Capt Matthew Dawe seen below.

I Face the Foe In Darkness (Part Two)

"Now I face the foe In darkness,
thence I have died;
I do still stand at my men's right side.
I face the foe In darkness.

Forever more in spirit.
Now the men come crashing down on the foe's halls of stone!
Yelling, screamin their rage!
While the dead provide light for their way, courage,
and all other things that they can provide.

Hail!
Hail the dead!
Hail the living!
Alas!
The foe in darkness has fallen beneath my friend's feet;
they celebrate now, before they move on.
Thence the foe in darkness has fallen."

by Noel Micheal Guscott


Capt Matthen Dawe,

MAY YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS IN ARMS REST IN PEACE

Kandahar Airfield without Canadiana

Beyond its troops and tanks, Canada casts a long shadow at Kandahar Airfield, the hub of the coalition's Afghan mission.
There's the Canadian gym, popular among the nearly 20,000 soldiers from other countries. So too is the on-base Tim Hortons, owned and operated by the Canadian Forces. The base's prominent Canadian-built hockey pad is home to a house league, which is dominated, naturally, by Canadian teams.
KAF is heavy on its Can-con, all of it built since Kandahar became the focus of Canada's Afghan mission in 2006. But with Canadian combat troops set to withdraw next summer, coalition countries face a cold reality: KAF without Canada. (read more =>)

Oh Canada, In respect of the loss of Cpl. Darren James Fitzpatrick

An injured soldier who returned home to Edmonton died from his wounds surrounded by family. The 21 year old infantryman was a member of the PPCLI. He had been injured by an I.E.D on March 6. Let us not forget all the injured soldiers who live and face new challenges everyday, and let us not forget Cpl. Darren James Fitzpatrick. His efforts were not for nothing.Rest in Peace

So deeply sorry to hear the news

Of the loss of another son

Oh Canada we’d have held you near

Our oh so precious one... See More

We thank you lord for seeing him home

To the country of his birth

We thank you lord for bringing him home

To those for whom he served

We thank you he had the loving arms

Of his family gathered near

That he could rest in the loving arms

Of his loved ones standing near

Oh Canada, for you are he

So much more than all of us

Oh Canada you have given so much

On behalf of all of us

Oh Canada we feel so cheated

For we knew not of your plight

Or so proudly we would have been there

Standing quietly out of sight

We would have held a vigil

Held you close within our thoughts

We would have held you closely near

In our prayers and in our hearts

Thank you son, Oh Canada

For me that is your name

For you’re the son who was welcomed home

And we knew not that you came

We thank you lord, he made it home

To his country, to his land

We thank you for your loving gift

Of this brave Canadian

Please Lord send your angels

Carry him gently hold him tight

That he may rest in the loving hearts

Of those he shared throughout his life

Let them know we are so grateful

For the sacrifice that he gave

To make our world a better place

Amongst a country he sought to save

Your efforts Darren will not be forgotten.

You are Canada, and you and your fellow troops are in our hearts.

Cpl. Darren James Fitzpatrick, we knew you not, but our prayers reach out for you, your loved ones, friends, and fellow soldiers. We do, so dearly, thank you and your loved ones for your efforts towards making our world a better place.

By: Roger Borchert

For the Family, Loved Ones, Friends and Fellow Soldiers of Sgt. John Wayne Faught

He was a soldier’s soldier crusty to the edge
He led and guided younger ones
Safely kept until and when
To bring them home when their duty done
He died doing duty’s task
On behalf of a country so very proud
Now hurting at his pass
The hearts that pound, the tears that flow
He looks on from angel’s arms
And growls a laugh, Stand proudly lads
Until your duty’s passed
Weep not for me for now I’ll rest
In eternal loving arms
In hearts across a nation
Near mountains, seas and farms
In cities where we went to share
In the company of having fun
For we’ve enjoyed those very things
We’ve tried to pass along
To a nation buried in an evil dust
Of terror, hate, and war
That hasn’t had the chance to pass
Through freedoms opening door
So proud he walked the sands of time
So proud to give his all
To protect and place his life between
This terror and us all
They say John was gruff
Tough as Sergeants come
But for each and every one
To these youth he led in danger’s way
A father he’d become
They placed a trust a bond in him
As each do in that brotherhood
He will be missed by all those near
For what he taught to them was good
Oh Canada we rise salute
A soldier coming home
A son who rose to challenge’s hand
A soldier’s soldier it is wrote
For his family, friends, and loved ones
We pledge a solemn vow
To remember and hold high the torch
He’s carried forth for us till now

Your efforts John, will not be forgotten. You are Canada, and you and your fellow troops are in our hearts.

Sgt. John Wayne Faught we knew you not, but our prayers reach out for you, your loved ones, friends, and fellow soldiers. We do, so dearly, thank you and your loved ones for your efforts towards making our world a better place.

By: Roger Borchert

Fifteen Days: Stories Of Bravery, Friendship, Life And Death From Inside The New Canadian Army

Description:

Long before she made her first trip to Afghanistan as an embedded reporter for The Globe and Mail, Christie Blatchford was already one of Canada’s most respected and eagerly read journalists. Her vivid prose, her unmistakable voice, her ability to connect emotionally with her subjects and readers, her hard-won and hard-nosed skills as a reporter–these had already established her as a household name. But with her many reports from Afghanistan, and in dozens of interviews with the returned members of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and others back at home, she found the subject she was born to tackle. Her reporting of the conflict and her deeply empathetic observations of the men and women who wear the maple leaf are words for the ages, fit to stand alongside the nation’s best writing on war.It is a testament to Christie Blatchford’s skills and integrity that along with the admiration of her readers, she won the respect and trust of the soldiers. They share breathtakingly honest accounts of their desire to serve, their willingness to confront fear and danger in the battlefield, their loyalty towards each other and the heartbreak occasioned by the loss of one of their own. Grounded in insights gained over the course of three trips to Afghanistan in 2006, and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews not only with the servicemen and -women with whom she shared so much, but with their commanders and family members as well, Christie Blatchford creates a detailed, complex and deeply affecting picture of military life in the twenty-first century.

Reviews:

“Blatchford has the rare ability to make her descriptions of combat, particularly those involving loss of life and serious injury, almost embarrassing to the reader. You feel that you are eavesdropping on very private matters. Her extensive research and her own recollections as she was caught up in the thick of some of the heaviest fighting are compelling, gut-wrenching and, unfortunately, real. . . . She walked the walk. . . . Blatchford’s hundreds of hours of interviews in Canada have produced a rare, intimate look at how individual families coped with an early-morning knock on the door, and the presence of a unit officer and a padre with devastating news, or having a vehicle chase down a father out for a jog with a request that he get in and return home because ‘the Army is at your house.’. . . As someone who has been to Afghanistan visiting our troops a couple of times, I learned more about the performance of our soldiers from reading Blatchford’s book then [sic] I did from being on the ground for short stays. . . . I’ve never felt prouder of being Canadian then when I’ve had the pleasure of commanding, or, in the case of Afghanistan, observing Canadian soldiers performing their duties abroad. Fifteen Days reinforced that pride even more. Bravo Zulu, Christie Blatchford.”

— Major-General Lewis MacKenzie (ret’d) in The Globe and Mail

“Her work, at its best, tends to reflect life’s mirror. There is death in her book, of course. It’s about war, after all — our war, to those who support it, and our soldiers, even to those who don’t. Blatch [sic] gives them more than just faces, she gives them life. And, for those who died wearing Canada’s uniform, she gives them a life that no newspaper has the length and space to describe, and no television documentary can convey in an hour’s time slot.”

— London Free Press

“Christie Blatchford brings to the theatre of hostilities her keen eye and curiosity. She writes superb prose that conveys the experience of the Canadians’ war in Afghanistan. She understands the soldiers and has grasped the comradeship that binds them together. She not only informs Canadians of today’s military realities, but champions values such as honour and sacrifice. She is exceptionally evocative, superbly descriptive, and develops a compelling storyline.”

- Citation from the 2006 Ross Munro Media Award

“Sandstorms, killer heat, sneak suicide attacks, rotten food, bites from five-foot snakes, death of buddies, can’t tell the enemy from friends - a tough and deadly war, yet Blatchford shows how our troops soldier on with no complaints. You will be involved in conversations with the troops that could only be gathered first hand. This book will open your eyes to this brutal war and it is worthy of our brave young men and women. It is a tough book written by a tough broad who tells it like it is. I could not put the book down.”

- Don Cherry

“Fifteen Days is by far the most deeply personal and startlingly honest account of Canadian soldiers since they first stepped foot in Afghanistan. Uninhibited by the official line, the troops hold nothing back, proving over and over why they are the best PR agents in the military; they also have the most to lose. By earning their confidence and respect, Christie Blatchford has delivered a candid and often painful account of their most difficult days. She is a master at capturing the truth of a moment, the humour and the heartbreak. The book is so vivid that I could feel the unbearable weight of the fallen. “

- Lisa LaFlamme, National Affairs Correspondent, CTV National News

PW - I Stand

I Stand for You

When terror grips you,

and the fabric of civility tears,

I stand for you.

On foreign soil,

where peace is but a whispered hope,

I stand for you.

As bullets fly like bees,

and hateful bombs explode

Threatening to steal my sanity – I stand for you.

I carry broken bodies back to be mended, and

No matter how hard I try – The tears fall like rain,

and still through all the pain,

I stand for you.

That is until I fall, and I wonder,

as I lay cold and Still...Will you remember,

and stand for me?

- Unknown -

QW - ARTILLERY'S TWO PEOPLE

"Artillerymen believe the world consist of two types of people; other Artillerymen and targets."

- Unknown

WE MAY NOT WIN AT THE OLYMPICS BUT WE TOOK GOLD IN AFGHANISTAN

Canadians beat Americans in Afghan ball hockey game!!

GO TEAM, GO!!!

QW - WOMEN SOLDIERS

"We have women in the military, but they don’t put us in the front lines. They don’t know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the General has to do is walk over to the women and say 'you see that enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms'"

- Elayne Boosler - comedian

Corporal Joshua Caleb Baker

Age: 24
Hometown: Edmonton, Alta
Unit: Loyal Edmonton Regiment 4th Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
Deceased: February 12, 2010
Incident: Training Accident, Kandahar City, Afghanistan

Contact Charlie: The Canadian Army, The Taliban and the Battle that Saved Afghanistan

Description:

From May through August 2006, Canadian soldiers fought a running battle against Taliban insurgents in the Panjwayi district southwest of Kandahar, the Afghan provincial capital. In the most intense fighting the Canadian army has conducted since the Korean War, the Taliban offensive was defeated, checking their goal to break NATO’s tenuous resolve by occupying Kandahar, however briefly. Contact Charlie, by National Post reporter and army reserve officer Chris Wattie, recounts the Battle of Panjwayi, focusing on Charlie Company of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, with whom Wattie was embedded for eight weeks in early 2006. Wattie’s book is an extraordinarily intense minute-by-minute account of the major engagements from the point of view of the Canadian soldiers who fought them. We tread familiar, but nonetheless inspiring, ground reading about courage, fear, determination, frustration, sorrow, and professionalism. Although clearly a battle narrative, Contact Charlie contains little history or true reportage, and is unrepentantly biased. Add in the breathless tone, and the book is, ultimately, a tribute to those Canadians who have chosen to fight on behalf of Canada. Even a tribute, though, requires some sense of legitimacy, and Contact Charlie often strains credibility. The lack of annotation, and the apparently perfect recall of the soldiers, suggests that Wattie has amplified the tone, if not the facts, of the battle for dramatic effect. Nonetheless, the book will inform those interested about combat in Afghanistan, and about the lives and sacrifices of our soldiers. But between the lines of heroism and professionalism is an uncomfortable truth: two years later, the Taliban are attacking Kandahar, NATO resolve is still tenuous, and Canadian soldiers are still fighting and dying in Panjwayi.

Reviews:

“In the summer of 2006 the Taliban were poised to take back their Jerusalem, Kandahar City. They didn’t figure on 1 PPCLI. Chris Wattie’s outstanding effort lets us eavesdrop on the intense battles that saved the city, the country and NATO itself, and should make every Canadian proud of our country’s sacrifice in the name of freedom.”

—Lewis MacKenzie, Major-General (ret’d), Commanding Officer 1PPCLI, 1977–1979

“Way beyond the perceived access of embedded reporting, Contact Charlie brings the boots on the ground view in Afghanistan closer than anyone outside the Canadian Forces has ever seen it. Wattie’s account of the battle for the Panjwayi is reminiscent of war correspondence from such giants as Ross Munro, Matthew Halton or Bill Boss—as close to the sharp end as one can get."

—Ted Barris, journalist and author

"Many journalists try to write about military life but few possess the ability, eloquence and sheer grasp of the fleshy reality of war and soldiering that Wattie has in obvious abundance. This is reporting, military history and political analysis of the first order. Splendid and memorable—a book that should carve an honoured place in Canadian literature."

—Michael Coren, Sun Media columnist, television and radio host and best-selling author

“ Contact Charlie fills in the blanks between Canada’s military objective in Afghanistan and the dizzying transformation on the ground. It is a thorough, lucid account of how one company’s tour of duty altered so many lives. Like a magnet, Charlie Company is drawn into a fight behind every wall and Chris Wattie captures it all in meticulous detail. Each time they suit up for a ‘routine’ patrol, there is a sense of dread for what looms. Contact Charlie will survive as a testament to the soldiers who never came back and the friends who will never forget them.”

—Lisa LaFlamme, National Affairs Correspondent, CTV News

QW - CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

“Cannon to the right of them,

Cannon to the left of them,

Cannon in front of them,

Volley'ed and thundered.”

- The Charge of the Light Brigade, during the battle of Balaclava in October 1854

PW - In Support of Our Troops and Their Families

Though winter comes knocking on my doorstep

My heart is warmed by those

Whose selfless efforts go unheard

Except to the ears of those who care

Those who watch the news in fear

And feel it’s mighty cost

They search engulf all the news

For they’re the families of those who serve

Who’ve stepped forth and also could be lost

My heart rides this torrent too

For they are now friends of mine

Though they know not I’m standing near

Near throughout this precious time

With prayers to quell their fears

My tears have flown

My mind in thought, pen run out of ink

From jotting down how much I care

For those for whom I think

I wish the Lord would intervene

And cause that peaceful end

There is no need for a loser found

Let all be winners in this stand

For when greater minds prevail and see

A better world is what is found

Awe but this is just a simple dream

Imaginations simplistic ground

In a world that is far to complex

For a dream that could not last

For each day a barbarian thrives anew

And drives the future to the past

Tis why our heroes ride this charge

Across a great wide world divide

To stand and stop a dangerous foe

When our values and theirs collide

By: Roger Borchert