# All Tigers, No Donkeys - by Kurt Grant



## bossi

Published by Vanwell - hopefully somebody can post a review soon ...

http://www.canada.com/components/printstory/printstory4.aspx?id=dd81b77e-322a-41c4-9cb7-524b0e2212d8

*Christmas in an evil place*
  
Kurt Grant, National Post, December 24, 2004


On Christmas Day, 1994, Kurt Grant was a peacekeeper in Croatia as part of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group during Operation Harmony. What follows is that day's entry from his diary.


Last night, the cook prepared a traditional Christmas dinner for the platoon, and the celebration went on long into the evening. The camp is now as quiet as a church on a Monday morning.

My friend Mark showed up at my trailer at 8:30 and asked if I would drive him to the village of Donja Bruska, where we had an observation post. We had to pick up a sergeant who'd volunteered to fill in for us while we celebrated the night before. I agreed. There really wasn't anyone else who could have done it, anyway. Everyone else in camp was still in bed, sleeping off last night's revelry. On the way out the door I grabbed my camera. There was a place I wanted to visit, and this, I thought, was the right day to go.

After dropping the sergeant off at his base, I asked Mark if we could make a detour on the way back to our camp, and swing by a cemetery in the area I'd heard of. When Croatia's Serbs in the Krajina region attempted to break away, they had gone to this, and other Croatian graveyards and destroyed them by opening the graves, scattering the bones, and smashing headstones. Having only ever heard about this activity -- and not really believing it -- I wanted to see the results for myself.

We bounced along the back roads southwest of the town of Karin-Slana for a while, and then rolled to a stop as we approached the cemetery. The engine of our vehicle spluttered to a halt as Mark and I threw open the doors and stepped out into the cool air of Christmas morning. Rifles in hand, we skirted the perimeter wall that marked the hallowed ground, slipped quietly passed a pile of rubble that had once been a bell tower, and moved through what remained of the main gate.

The sky was dark and overcast. In the distance across the valley, the clouds came down to meet the tops of the blue-green hills, and on the ground, there lay two or three inches of freshly fallen snow. Spread out before us lay the destruction wrought by a vengeful people.

Everything was still. The kind of deafening quiet you get in the woods just after a snow storm, when nothing has had a chance to start moving yet, not even the air. It seemed somehow appropriate for this holiest of mornings.

We began to move, working our way toward the centre of the graveyard, ever conscious as we went that someone might have paid a recent visit and left a booby trap behind. There remained the very real possibility that we could add our own bodies to the remains of those scattered about us. There would be no one to come and find us since nobody knew we were here.

As we walked, I took several pictures to record for others what I was seeing. For my own sake, I needn't have bothered. What I saw there this morning will remain with me the rest of my life.

At the middle of the graveyard stood what had once been its most prominent landmark, the chapel. All that was left was its outline. All four walls were no higher than two feet above the foundation. It was obvious that someone had used powerful explosives to destroy the building because the rubble radiated out from the centre of what was left of the structure, and seemed to cover the entire area of the cemetery.

At one end of the chapel, to the left of what had once been its entrance, there was a hole in the floor filled with bones. I was told that it is tradition in this part of Yugoslavia to remove the bones of long-deceased relatives from the family grave and place them in hallowed ground so that more recently deceased persons can be buried in the family plot. The cover had been broken and pushed aside, exposing the bones to the elements. There was no way of telling how many bodies had been piled on top of one another.

We continued on, weaving our way through the rubble, the open graves and the scattered human remains. While I stood surrounded by the evidence of so much hatred, time seemed to stand still. Then Mark looked at his watch and made a sign that we should be getting back.

Driving away from the graveyard, I felt an urge to apologize to the dead, both for what had been done to them, and for my adding to the insult by taking pictures. I wanted to say a prayer of some sort, but not being religiously trained, I instead composed some words on the spot, jumbled in with snippets of distracted thoughts.

Mark and I had been in the area for half an hour or so. As we'd wandered about, neither of us had said a word. What could one say? What kind of logic drives a man to not only kill someone out of hatred, but then continue on to that person's most sacred of places and commit this kind of crime? I don't know. Blessedly, the thinking was utterly alien to me, and leaves me cold.

Sitting here in my trailer writing this, I am reminded of a poem by William Blake that sums up my feelings about the morning's experience:

Oh for a voice like thunder, and a tongue to drown the voice of war,

When the soul is driven to madness,

Who can stand?

When the souls of the oppressed fight in the troubled air that rages,

Who can stand?

When the whirlwind of fury comes from the throne of God,

When the frowns of his countenance drive the nations together,

Who can stand?

When Sin claps his broad wings over the battle, and sails rejoicing in the flood of death,

When the souls are torn to everlasting fire, and fiends of Hell rejoice upon the strain,

Oh who can stand?

Oh who has caused this?

Oh who can answer at the throne of God?

The Kings and the Nobles of the land have done it,

Hear it not Heaven,

Thy ministers have done it!


Kurt Grant is a serving member of the Brockville Rifles. The diary he kept of his experience on tour in the Balkans, All Tigers, No Donkeys, has recently been published by Vanwell Publishing.


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## the 48th regulator

magnificent, 

thanks Mark,  That was the tour I was on.  The title of his diary is the saying that the RSM of 1 RCR would say to us

"We are all Tigers, not Dinkeys"

tess


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## Fusaki

I think I'm gonna have to check this one out. I'd probably recognise a few of the names.


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## aesop081

I was in the engineer troop for that tour........i hadn't heard that saying in a long time !!


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## Kurt Grant

Bossi - Chris Wattie of the National Post will be doing a review in a couple of weeks.  He's doing tsunami stories right now but will be back soon.  Look for it in Esprit de Corps as well.

Tess - You got it right in one.  It was indeed the saying the RSM of 1 RCR used to say.  it was the publishers idea to use it for the title.

Ghostwalk - Sorry budz, all the names have been changed....for obvious reasons. 

  For those who don't know what the book is about, its my diary of roto 5, Op HARMONY, UNPROFOR 1994-95.  There are three main themes throughout the book, what a reservist has to go through to get on a UN tour; what happened to us day by day, and when we came back; and what happened between my wife and I (she was diagnosed with MS just before I went over). 
   The book has only just been released (late Nov), but the feed back has been incredible.  Women love it because it lets them see what "we guys" go through on tour and won't talk about when we get home.  They also love it because it's a love story (sorry guys .. I know its not the kind of thing a  6'2", 230 lb knuckle dragging infantry type usually talks about ... but there it is).  My wife and I went through some tough times on this tour and are stronger for it.  
  The guys like it because of the humour, and the truth.  If it happened ... its in there, and usually reminds them of great stories of their own.  Civilians, ... well, civilians can't get over what we do for a living.  I wrote it partly to explain to the rest of the world what the hell the military does for a living, and why we take such pride in it.   
  In the end I trust you'll find it a good read and a good smile.

kurt
(the author)


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## HollywoodHitman

Kurt,

I'm looking forward to your book. The subsequent tour was the Tour-Too-Far or the Magical Mystery Tour of '95 (The 2PPCLI battle group that didnt deploy to Op Harmony)...I know we were all disappointed for sure. 

Best of luck with the success of the book.

TM


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## Marauder

Kurt, does your pubisher have any arrangement to order a signed copy? I'd like to look into that if that's an option.


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## Kurt Grant

Marauder
  No, but where are you?  Perhaps we can arrange to get together.  I'd be happy to sign a copy for you.
  Failing that you can drop me a line on the DIN (ADM-HR(mil) address) and we can set something up.

kurt


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## the 48th regulator

Kurt and all the gang

I have jut read the book, And I have to say it was fantastic!

Sometimes it has been said that it is hard to relive events.  In my case I had an experience on my tour that was quite haunting (well quite a few).

But, Kurt you did one helluva job on this work.  It was a memoir, a Love story, a character sketch of a reservist, and a political piece about we Canadians.

"All Tigers, No donkeys" is a read that fits on everyones shelf.  You brought back many many memories that I forgot about, and inspired me to move forward.  Hehe you talked about Charles Company with such detail (I was in Charles), such as the Sgt Majors PT we had to do after we Lost to Dukes!!  I remember that well, as the soccer team I was on was actually playing the very last game against Dukes, and he gathered us up and plainly told us "If you guys are weak and you lose to Dukes, I am going to take you on some of My Good SGT. Maj PT to toughen you up!!".  What he seemed to forget though, was that the majority of the Battalion soccer players were in Dukes, we in Charles mostly were a bunch of TV punters, and I hated  the tug o war (the rope was bigger than me!)

Thank you Kurt, and I will send a note the next time I am in Ottawa, and we can share a Pint.  Say hello to Catherine from me.

Your Friend,

John Tescione 
1RCR 33C OP Harmony


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## muskrat89

How does someone in the US buy it?


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## the 48th regulator

I found a vendor on Ebay, selling them.  I will send that person a msg and see if they have anymore copies.  I will PM you with details.  I know him from my days in the 48th (he used to collect, and sell militaria then), so I know that he is a reputable vendor.

cheers,

tess


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## Standards

This brings back a few memories, especially Kurt's opening.  I was with the Engr Tp and recall it being a busy week.  Boxing Day the Wolf (Engr veh) had a mine strike and then New Years Eve the Iltis (I can't remember which Coy) was shot up.

I'll have to keep a look out for a copy of the book.


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## the 48th regulator

Standards said:
			
		

> This brings back a few memories, especially Kurt's opening. I was with the Engr Tp and recall it being a busy week. Boxing Day the Wolf (Engr veh) had a mine strike and then New Years Eve the Iltis (I can't remember which Coy) was shot up.
> 
> I'll have to keep a look out for a copy of the book.



The Iltis was Charles Coy

cheers

tess


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## Danjanou

Kurt,

I just finished the book (helped kill a couple of hours in an airport terminal and a 5 hour flight).

Excellent read, thanks.


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## Andyboy

Any idea where I can get a copy of this book in Toronto?


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## Danjanou

Chapter and Indigo both have them. Not a lot of copies. Check their web site and there's a feature that shows which stores have copies in stock, that's what I did.


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## the 48th regulator

world's biggest had a few copies

tess


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## Andyboy

Thanks Tess, I'll go by there today. 

You still in? 

Kent


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## the 48th regulator

naw,

finalizing the paperwork to clear as I type

tess


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## Andyboy

Hey that's too bad, how come?

Kent


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## the 48th regulator

I could take take up volumes explaining.  Family, work, and just plain lost interest really....couldn't really stomach the shenanigans i saw anymore.

but, places like this site, remind me of the good times I once had.

tess


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## Andyboy

I hear you 100%, I'm in the same boat. I struggeld with it for quite a while but decided to stick it out for the time being. I recently transfered to a new unit thinking mabe things would be different...they aren't.

Oh well at least I have the opportunity to take some new courses at he new unit which might renew some interest. 

Checked out the book, looks pretty good, lots of pics of places I had forgotten about. Have you read it? IS it worth reading? Anthing abotu Chaz coy in it other than the obvious?


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## Hockeycaper

This is a comment on this book which I am currently reading. I am about half way through at this moment and enjoying it imensley... Just one problem, the very short paragraph about the Christmas eve fights in Charles Coy. True there were 7 pers up on charges but only four for fighting. Actually there were two seperate fights.The first which took place during the C.O and RSMs visit for the mens's Christmas dinner. (Way to go 8 platoon )This fight actually broke out at the exact moment the C.O and RSM entered the C Coy mess hall. (Great timing boys). The second was a fight between a Reservist and a Reg force private, both from the same section. It started with an argument on section performance or lack there of and ended with a "Face to Face" scrap in the back of an ML (No punch in the back of the head)The ML was suppose to be on its way to Rastovic for the Christmas eve midninght mass. The other three were charged for being drunk on duty as they were QRF for that evening. Way to go three section 9 platoon 5 of of 7 guys charges were from this section if memory serves correctly.
As stated I am enjoying this book and will probabally have a few more comments as I continue on. 

B.J
former member of 
3 Setion 9 plt. C coy
1RCR


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## Kurt Grant

BJ

  Thanks for the update on the fight(s).  Being in Dukes at the time the information we received about the other companies had been filtered through so many people that by the time it got to us it was difficult to tell what was true and what wasn't.  Thinking back - given the way information was passed back then - its a wonder we heard anything at all about you guys.  Since I've finished the book I've learned many things about the tour that, at the time, were nothing more than rumour...this being one of them.
  
  Glad to hear you're enjoying the book.  Hope it brings back some good memories for you.

kurt


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## Hockeycaper

Kurt,

Lots of good memories...lots of good stories yet to be told. Have you heard of any other books being worked on or comming out from this tour? 

Ben


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## Kurt Grant

Ben


To the best of my knowledge, this is the only one.  I recall lots of guys STARTING diarys, but I don't think any of them actually finished them. I do know of a KOSOVO diary that is being worked on, but its about two years from being finished and theres still the publishing process to go through.  

I genuinely hope that more people try to tell thier story.  Theres enough pointy-heads to write the Strategic overview, but damn few of us who speak about what it was actually like to be in the trenches.  Canada has a long and storied history of service that very few Canadians know about it.  It falls to us to correct that (sorry - we all have to have our soap box, and this one appears to be mine)  

To that end, if you know of anyone who wants to get thier story published put them in contact and I'll pass along what little I know based on my own experience.  

kurt


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## Hockeycaper

Kurt 

Thanks for the quick reply. I don't know of anybody at this time but you never know. Maybe we could get a few guys and put together a collection of short stories.  
We would definatly need  lots of beer and rye to help refresh our memories and loosen our tongues .... we could lock ourselves in one big room and have someone sober enough to write it all down...and de-code all the bull S**t. from the real stuff,,, ha ha ha

good luck

Ben


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## the 48th regulator

hmmmm hehehe  Ben,

You are correct about the section....Guess who was one of the two that did not get laid up with defaulters.....And no thanks to Woody in Coy HQ for helping me along with my inebriation.....I don't know how I talked my way outta that when SGT Dan, The W.o and the CQ when from ISO trailer to Iso looking for the guilty...thank God for Halls and mint gum...

hehehe the ML I remember that........


What a  tour!

tess


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## Hunter

This book should be on everyone's reading list.  I read this book while on ex. Stalwart Guardian - being the CO's driver gave me lots of idle time  :-\ - and enjoyed it immensely.  Congratulations on a fine piece of work Kurt, and I hope your wife if doing well with her MS.


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## Kurt Grant

The following  review of the book _All Tigers No Donkeys, A Canadian Soldier in Croatia,_ was written by Chris Wattie and published in  the National Post's Non-Fiction books section on Saturday 5 Nov 2005.    

... One memoir that has received scant attention outside of military circles is _All Tigers No Donkeys: A Canadian Soldier in Croatia _ by Kurt Grant, which is a shame, because a century from now historians will be treating the book like the treasure trove that it is.  
  Some future Pierrre Berton stumbling upon _All Tigers, No Donkeys _ will discover a goldmine of anecdotes and slices of the day-to-day life of one of the hundreds of thousands of Canadian soldiers who have served on peacekeeping missions.
  Grant, an army reserve soldier, spent eight months with the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, in Croatia.  _All Tigers_ is an exhaustive account of his tour of duty, from pre-deployment training to the long flight home. 
  The title is drawn from a speach given by a grizzled regimental sergeant-major to Grant and his comrades just before they left Canada.  The speach reminded the soldiers of who they were and what was expected of them, and the officer that repeated it so often it had become famous in the ranks.
  _All Tigers_ is an anecdotal book drawn largely from the diary Grant kept during his tour and his letters home, which makes it something of a challenge to read from start to finish.  Much of the daily grind in any military operation, be it peacekeeping or all-out war, is, frankly, pretty dull, and the detailed descriptions of everyday life iin a Canadian military camp overseas aren't always page-turning reading.
  But the gems are well worth the effort.  these include a passage describing a haunting Christmas Day patrol through a Croatian graveyard that is among the best short pieces of its kind ever written.
  Grant is unflinchingly honest and revealing about his experiences in the former Yugoslavia, his reactions to what he saw and did during his tour and the impact on his family of his long absence.  It is difficult to read his exhanges with his wife without feeling like a peeping Tom, but it makes for emotionally powerful reading nonetheless. 
  With thousands of Canadian troops being sent overseas every year, this book should be much more widely read.  It is an eye-opening account of the daily effect of decades of underfunding and over-extending of our men and women in uniform, and Canadians owe it to them ot at least read about the front-line impact of decisions made by the polititians they elect.

cheers
Kurt


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## DaveinOttawa

I was on OP duty the day the WOLF hit the landmine. I was watching it through bino's when she blew. Can anyone tell me who was in that and what the heck they were doing anyways???? I was actually ordered to keep an eye on it as it drove into the zone as it may hit a mine, and whammo! 

I bought Kurt's book at the new War Museum but did not finish it. The book is about the tour, which was a constant fight against boredom and rumours. The book therefore is accurately dull.  It would have been wrong to try and make it "exciting" but that was not Roto #5 for the 99% who came back without a scratch.  Looking back we were more concerned with not getting into crap from the CSM than anything else. As a private that was the tour for me. Forget the mission and just don't get charged. I don't think I have ever played more Euchre and Risk in my life.  Its amazing though - you forget the little things. Kurt recounting the PT, the time all the reservists had to stay behind in Pet, I had forgotten all about that.  

Kurt should have went back to Croatia - it would have been a good idea to revisit the areas 10yrs later. I went back in 2001 on my leave for my 2nd tour with SFOR in Bosnia. Some of buildings are still there with the UN painted on the roof. Other villages are hardly recognizable. Any Serb village that would have been thriving in 94/95 is now an abandoned area. The Croats kicked all the Serbs out in 95 with Operation Storm. Makes one think what we were doing there in the first place.


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## noneck

I enjoyed Kurt's book thoroughly. It brought back many memories of my own tour in 93 with C Coy 2VP. There were lots of similarities from my tour including the pre-training and work ups, right through to the tour itself. I bought the book soon after reading the intial posting on this site. The book was read in a day and I haven't seen it since, as all my buddies from  keep borrowing it.

DaveinOttawa you brought up a good point, the idea of returning to the area for a visit. About ten of my buddies from that tour are planning a trip back to both Sector West and Sector South. I have been advised by many folks that in Sector South specifically Medak ect there is nothing. I wonder if you could shed any light on this or provide any pointers?

Cheers
Noneck


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## Standards

> Can anyone tell me who was in that and what the heck they were doing anyways?



That was Engr Recce out checking a route.  Generally this is only done because someone in the Bn has asked for the route to be approved so they can use it for patrols etc.  I assume that was true in this case, but am not positive.

To the best of my memory, the Wolf contained Sgt Terry H and Cpl Larry C.  Terry retired as a WO in Chilliwack and is currently working as a reservist in ASU Chilliwack Ops.  Larry was filling in because the usual Recce Driver was on leave ; he was a Sgt in 2 CER last time I saw him.  Due to the injuries he received during the mine strike he was awarded with a Wound Stripe.

Between the mine strike and the Iltis affair a couple of days later, it made for memorable week.

Doug


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## aesop081

Standards said:
			
		

> To the best of my memory, the Wolf contained Sgt Terry H and Cpl Larry C.



Thats correct, Myself, Mike C. and Johny B. were the first ones to reach the site after the explosion.  I still remember Larry smoking a cigarette when we got there.  Few TMA-3s were on hand to greet us.  I almost steped on a PMA-2 at that time.


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## the 48th regulator

I was unloading sandbags at DaveinOttawa's o.p, and also watched it happen, saw the vehicle afterwards when they were carting it back to camp.

Very very erie time it was...

dileas

tess


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## aesop081

I was building this when the wolf blew up....we then raced to the scene....


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## the 48th regulator

Sweet heart of Heyzoos,

That was also the O.P I escorted engineers, on New Years eve, so they could light it up as well.....

Dang Aesops, you and I have truly shared the exact same dirt on our boots!!!

Hey remember our internet piss up last New Years??

dileas

tess


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## The Rifleman

I have just started reading this and thoroughly enjoying it. Kurt's experiences and thoughts almost mirror mine when I joined a regular battalion for service in Bosnia (although my book is not in diary format). 

Does anyone know if Kurt is still serving in the Brockeville Rifles?


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## The Rifleman

cancel my last - I have been in contact via e-mail with Kurt. What a thoroughly nice chap!


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