30 Nov - 13 Dec 2009
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what to write about after I’m done sharing my 2009-2010 Afghan journals. I have lots of stories to share but I’ve really enjoyed reliving the days and months spent patrolling the Arghandab river valley on my last tour. It got me thinking that maybe I had kept some letters or scribbled notes on old pictures from my other deployments, so I decided to go to the basement to search through my barrack box.
I found my pictures, certificates and mementos right where I knew they’d be, in a green sticker covered box, treated with the same care and appreciation my kids display when they put away there toys…which is to say mixed together with reckless abandon.
My search unveiled a mini Canada flag that had flown on the back of my Bison Ambulance in Kabul in 2003-2004. I’m pretty sure we called that Bison either Waldorf or Statler, but I can’t remember exactly. Another item rediscovered was my old note pad which contained my weapon serial number from that tour and inside a small zippered pouch, a Grey and Simcoe Forester unit coin. The coin was a bit of a surprise, it wasn’t mine, it belonged to our Ambulance driver, a guy named Carl. I think I remember finding it in the Bison when I was cleaning it just before we left the country but after Carl had already gone home. It had been tucked away safely but forgotten for nearly 20 years.
I reached out to my friend Ron who was the Crew Commander of the Bison to see if he was still in touch with Carl, but he wasn’t. Then I thought I could just see if a quick search online would land any leads, and sure enough I managed to track Carl down!
I’m happy to say the coin will be headed back to its rightful owner later this week; but it goes to show that you never know what treasures, both literal and figurative, you’ll discover when you go to start sharing your own stories.
My afghan story continues below, and when you’re ready be sure to share yours.
All the best,
John
30 Nov 2009
The last day of November 09 was a good day, although it began with the Riders losing the Grey Cup. I had a good sleep and got a reasonable amount of stuff done. I treated an Afghan patient for shortness of breath. Got Khair Mohamed to get some IDF CCP’s established. Had lunch with the terps and some of the guys; the lamb was excellent. Put up my Christmas decorations and listened to Christmas music which made me a little bit homesick. I justified it because we are heading out to Ashoque tomorrow for more foot patrols. Played some volleyball against the ANA who are pretty good surprisingly! We only won one game out of three. I have Ian here as a replacement while Cory is on HLTA, I wish he could stay. Sent a memo up to HSS (health service support) chain of command, hopefully it will get more medics for the OMLT. Was informed by the career manager that I’ll be posted. I chose Dundurn to be closer to home for a few years. Only 72 more days until HLTA!!
03 Dec 2009
Past two days were pretty busy out at Strong Point (SP) Ashoque. We did some patrols out to the North and East of the SP. One on the 1st and two on the 2nd. The ANA were annoying as usual but at least they were out. On the second day we got shot at, the round went over our heads and was from the north, probably ANA or USPI. When we woke up this morning we made preparations to tear down camp and head back to FOB Wilson for the night. While we were taking stuff down we took some small arms fire, a little at first but then a lot! I was in the shitter initially…ha ha. I geared up and got to a central position and after checking that no one was hurt went around and helped pass messages and do some organizing. It was loud because of the amount of incoming and outgoing rounds that were snapping overhead. The ANA gun truck .50 Cal went off right by my head…definitely rang my bell. The worst part of the engagement was the ANA found a command wire IED on the road outside the strong point and for some reason brought it into the compound. I saw it yelled “IED” and started backing away and got the guys to ramp up and get down in case it went off. I would have been very busy, or dead had it. It’s actually a miracle it didn’t because when they drove in they were showing me the IED and pulling on the command string which only had a piece of wood between the circuit switch which was connected to the battery pack and detonator. We never would have felt a thing.
06 Dec 2009
Back out at good old Strong Point Ashoque for the past two days. Not nearly as exciting as our last go although the ANA did nearly blow me up today. The lazy RPG gunner didn’t put his rocket tight into the tube and when we crossed a grape field the damn thing slid out and hit the ground right between my feet! He didn’t have the safety pin in either…then as if to test our luck he hits it on the tip to make sure its seated tight! The rest of our time was pretty uneventful, empty grape fields and mean looking villagers everywhere. Some random shots in the night but nothing at us and nothing worth getting up for. Had BBQ steak and chicke on the grill which was really good and a movie night with some jiffy pop…definitely the right way to go about running a war. Going back out again tomorrow morning and we will do it all over again. Oh…the local yanks are crazy and shoot at everything. Yesterday they shot a suspicious rock; not sure what it was doing but I guess it had it coming. We made a lot of fun at their expense about a “fighting age male rock”, I even captured one later…his name was Rockmed.
10 Dec 2009
The 7th and 8th were spent patrolling around Ashoque again mostly the grapefields to the NE and village to the SE. Came across a UXO which we had EOD come and BIP (blow in place), other than that pretty quiet time. The evening of the 8th it started to rain and didn’t stop all night! The ANA found out that their tents weren’t water proof and were very grumpy and miserable. Spent the 9th and first part of today working on vehicles, the crew served weapons and personal kit. A bit later in the morning I worked on an ANA guy who was hit by a USPI truck and had mangled legs, he was super messed up and died of his wounds. The scene when I opened the ambulance doors was pure chaos and the smell of blood was overpowering. In the afternoon two fight age males (FAM’s) came in with shrapnel wounds from “Shamus”. One had a skull fracture and shrapnel in his pelvis and the other a major bleed and piece missing from his right ass cheek. I worked on the skull fracture guy not sure whether they made it after being airlifted out. Back to Ashoque for another stint of patrolling and then it sounds like a big Op in Kulk or Sanjeray, both major IED factories and not my idea of fun that’s for sure.