- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
I did a search and did not find this particular news story within my search.
...I'm hoping I have posted this story on the correct board.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
RE: Canadian commander helps troops foil ambush
News Paper: National Post
Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009
Reporter: Craig Pearson, Canwest News Service
Link: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1750672
Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance spent most of Canada Day visiting Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan, wishing soldiers the best -- and helping stop a Taliban ambush in the process.
Returning after visiting Canadian soldiers in Zhari district, the military vehicles carrying Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan came upon an ambush of a truck convoy being protected by a private security company.
"There was a great number of trucks in there, some carrying military equipment," Brig.-Gen. Vance said yesterday. "We heard the ambush start, we moved up to investigate, we saw where the ambush was emanating from, so we tried to stop it. And we did."
No Canadians were hurt. But as is practice for the Canadian Forces, Brig.-Gen. Vance would not give an estimate of enemy casualties, except to confirm that some insurgents died in the skirmish.
Once the danger was eliminated, Brig.-Gen. Vance and his crew, a well-armed and fight-ready unit, moved on to the next forward operating base to continue spreading Canadian cheer.
It was a subdued celebration outside the wire. The official festivities to mark Canada Day in Afghanistan are limited typically to the vast Kandahar Airfield where the Canadians are headquartered and where soldiers marked the occasion with ball hockey and volleyball tournaments, tug-of-war matches, cake, barbecue and music.
At the more Spartan-forward operating bases, deep in hostile territory, the atmosphere is all business. Still, troops found time to mark Canada Day in the course of the daily round of patrols.
"It's Canada Day and it's kind of rough when you are far from home on holidays," said Calgary native Corporal Tom Hume, 25, sitting atop a Leopard 2 tank moments before it rumbled out on patrol from one base in southern Afghanistan.
"So you have to do something to celebrate."
Cpl. Hume and other tank-crew members decorated their huge machines with little touches of Canadiana, proudly taping Canadian flags to the armour.
"It's Canada Day and we're proud to be Canadian so we want to prove it to everybody," said Trooper Luc Ringuette, 21, from Edmundston, N. B., who affixed Canadian flags to his vehicle next to a miniature statue of Jesus.
"It reminds us of home." So with Canadian flags waving from antennae and oversized gun barrels alike, a number of the big boys rolled off the base into Afghanistan.
"It's Canada Day, we're far from home, so we've got to celebrate any way we can," said Trooper James Lajoie, 22, a tank gunner from Calgary who wore a red Maple Leaf tie over his frag vest. "It helps with morale."
And what's the best way to celebrate Canada Day in a war zone?
"By staying alive," Trooper Lajoie said.
...I'm hoping I have posted this story on the correct board.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
RE: Canadian commander helps troops foil ambush
News Paper: National Post
Published: Thursday, July 02, 2009
Reporter: Craig Pearson, Canwest News Service
Link: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1750672
Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance spent most of Canada Day visiting Canadian bases in southern Afghanistan, wishing soldiers the best -- and helping stop a Taliban ambush in the process.
Returning after visiting Canadian soldiers in Zhari district, the military vehicles carrying Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan came upon an ambush of a truck convoy being protected by a private security company.
"There was a great number of trucks in there, some carrying military equipment," Brig.-Gen. Vance said yesterday. "We heard the ambush start, we moved up to investigate, we saw where the ambush was emanating from, so we tried to stop it. And we did."
No Canadians were hurt. But as is practice for the Canadian Forces, Brig.-Gen. Vance would not give an estimate of enemy casualties, except to confirm that some insurgents died in the skirmish.
Once the danger was eliminated, Brig.-Gen. Vance and his crew, a well-armed and fight-ready unit, moved on to the next forward operating base to continue spreading Canadian cheer.
It was a subdued celebration outside the wire. The official festivities to mark Canada Day in Afghanistan are limited typically to the vast Kandahar Airfield where the Canadians are headquartered and where soldiers marked the occasion with ball hockey and volleyball tournaments, tug-of-war matches, cake, barbecue and music.
At the more Spartan-forward operating bases, deep in hostile territory, the atmosphere is all business. Still, troops found time to mark Canada Day in the course of the daily round of patrols.
"It's Canada Day and it's kind of rough when you are far from home on holidays," said Calgary native Corporal Tom Hume, 25, sitting atop a Leopard 2 tank moments before it rumbled out on patrol from one base in southern Afghanistan.
"So you have to do something to celebrate."
Cpl. Hume and other tank-crew members decorated their huge machines with little touches of Canadiana, proudly taping Canadian flags to the armour.
"It's Canada Day and we're proud to be Canadian so we want to prove it to everybody," said Trooper Luc Ringuette, 21, from Edmundston, N. B., who affixed Canadian flags to his vehicle next to a miniature statue of Jesus.
"It reminds us of home." So with Canadian flags waving from antennae and oversized gun barrels alike, a number of the big boys rolled off the base into Afghanistan.
"It's Canada Day, we're far from home, so we've got to celebrate any way we can," said Trooper James Lajoie, 22, a tank gunner from Calgary who wore a red Maple Leaf tie over his frag vest. "It helps with morale."
And what's the best way to celebrate Canada Day in a war zone?
"By staying alive," Trooper Lajoie said.
