This is Mcpl P Franklin (as some have called me the poor sod with no legs) I continue to serve with pride and honour as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
As a medic there are many desk jobs that are left unfullfilled due to the chronic shortage of trained CF personnel.
I have been offered a teaching position at the school in Borden but only if I leave the army and come as a commissionare. (obviosuly that wont happen).
I have recieved my MEL's and I am on the paper work process of being 3 b medically released...once that paperwork is done then my file as all files of the wounded in action (not just afghan but all areas of operations) will sit on his desk till the time I decide to leave the army at my free will.
I do not take up a position and I do not force other members to deply more often.
The number of 100% disabled (like myself) are very few and far.
We have 5 amputees from this war.
One a below the knee amp who is deciding to move on and leave the army.
We have Jody Mitic a double below the knee amputee that has dreams of redploying but most likely wont be able to due to the technology of the prostheticsa at this time. (the americans have redployed on full tours in irag and afghan 8 amputee soldiers...they have kept in uniform just around 60 or so members and this is with a total of 750 major limb amputations from the war. Also of note is that Jody was able to complete a 5 km race last week and im sure he will be the first double below to redploy in the western armies. (fingers crossed)
We have another amputee that was a infanteer and falls into the job of being unable to due this due to his pyhsical limitations. So as a single above knee amputee plus a above the knee amputee he is taking a course in Kingston and will continue to have a CF career in a new trade.
I am a double above the knee amputee and my story has been well publisized. As the above indicates had we been able to save the one knee joint (not even a working knee just the joint) i would be out of the wheelchair today. As of now i am 80% of my time in the wheelchair...less walking in edmonton god forsaken winters and more in the summers. I personally will be planning to stay in the military for a while longer as my 10 year mark comes up in aug 2009. Field amb has offerred me a position on the upcoming 6b course (allowing me to be promoted to Sgt) and I will be making the decision to go one the course in the next few weeks. I am currently on half days and with my chairity work and my public speeking apperances it is safe to say that I keep myself busy.
The other amputee from the war was a man by the name of Fredric Coutre (sorry if speeling is wrong) and he lost his leg below the knee in Nov 2007 and was unable to deal with the loss and committed suicide in Dec 2007.
So as many of you have talked semantics and whispered behind my back at the hospital, at a nd w or simply right to my face. I plan to stay in the army. The commanders intent is that all wounded soldiers are to stay in the armed forces andf have meaningfull employment. Done.
A man in a wheelchair can do many things...serve as president of the United States, roll across the world (Rick Hansen) a man who is missing a limb can do many things as well....run across Canada, run sub 10 seconds in the 100 meters and therefore qualify for the Olympics but then to be turned down by the goiverening body as an amputee he has an unfair advantage.
Maybe as we debate the merrits of whay we are trying to keep wounded and injured soldiers in uniform we should as ourselves why?
What does a wounded soldier have to offer besides riding a warm desk and an easy pension.
Years of service and experience that can be utilized in the training schools throughout the CF (we are chronicallly short instructors and yet the mbrs with the most expereince are the ones people want to force out)
We have years of training under our belt...as a paramedic and 5b qualified i have a large sum of money that the CF has invested into me.
Anyone with over 3 years of experience or holds the rank of Mcpl or Captain and above are the type of people that need to be retained as they offer the best bang for your buck....imagine an instructor that is posted to the school and will not deploy so there will be a continuous service and teaching cadre for years to come?
Fitness can be tested in many different ways....v02 max is a good indicator of the physcial fitness thats someone has especially for someone like myself.
There is no reason to get rid of U of S because this way it prevents physically disabaled persons from entring the armed forces. Some call me a hypocrit for saying so but we need a full fit fighting force at the basic training level and from that point on we have programs in place to either keep people fit, make people better through the CF health care system with its provincial partners and then releasing those that are "unable to keep up". My injury is not because i weighed 400 lbs and i have a sore back and broken ankles as the result....mine is due to almost dying for king and country. There is a difference.
Many who agrue thatI shouldnt stay in the army have put up many barriers in my path. I imagine many soldiers would have quit after the incrediably poor treatment my fellow soldiers my commanding officer (at my old unit) and others have done to push if not force me to leave the Canadian Armed Forces. I will leave when I am ready and in the mean time i will continue to tell the story of the wounded, work with other wounded soldiers as a peer support worker, teach tactical medicine and especially the value of the touniquet. I will work with families of wounded and fallen soldiers, talk to the press and thefore the public about the fine work our soldiers are doing in Afghanisatn, I will continue to talk to Afghans that i have become friends with and tell their stories to people like the NDP and the "jack Laytons's" of this country. I will go from base to base telling all this and promoting the ideas of supporting the troops and the mission as i still believe in it. I will work with civilian hospital and health care systems so that every wounded and injured soldier that reurns will get the best care humanly possible. I will continue to travel to places like Australia and the Unites States to talk about the care of the injured and the care of the fallen...I will also tell them that Canada is the best in the world and I will promote the idea that amputees and soldiers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
My travels throughout the us has led to the creation (with a group of fine people)a chairity called the Franklin Foundation that will help the needs of the amputees not just military but civilian as well. (www.naap.med.ualberta.ca). Its always been my belief that since we dont have a NDMC (thats a good thing) that we need to promote the intigration of the military and the civilian health care systmes to give our members the best care possible.
I went to Australia in Nov 2007 at the rerquest of the Chief of the Army of the ADF. He wanted to hear my story first hand adn also the care of the wounded and the care of the fallen. We had Brig Gen come with us and a Maj that was involved in some 26 repats of fallen or wounded soldiers. The plan was to have 4 speechs (one at the ADF HQ with the CA, one at the Staff College, one open forum one (like a luncheon speaker) and one at the embassy. They were so impressed with the cdn story that we ended up doing 14 speechs to every group you can imagine in the ADF.
That trip has directly resulted in an EOD member who lost a hand, finger and an eye due to a booby trap in Orzgan province in early 2008 from being automatically released and pushed to VA, to moving to the EOD school in Perth.
So you can see wounded and disabled soldiers from operational tours, training for operational tours (i include jumpers with broken backs in that category) and others who suffer a disabling injury due to operational reasons should be retained. Plus any argument about whether a wounded soldier should stay in uniform should be looked at through the coloured lens of the commanders intent.
Wounded soldiers are to be retained in the current positions or we have other positions within the CF that will allow these soldiers to serve with pride, dignity, respect and in a meaningfull way.
Look outside the cubicles of this world and see the value that all people can give in this world and remember that all of us have a disablity in some way. Mine is obvious others have a fear of heights, others have problems in public spaces, some hate needles, some arent good public speakers, some have bad knees from too many mountain mans, some have bad knees from too much running, some because they are overweight, some are obese, some are blind, some are deaf due to be an arty, some have the disability of being unable to see past the easy things in life...the cut and dry. The world is full of grey and quite simply we owe (not just to myself as a wounded soldier) all our vets, wounded and injured soldiers the respect and freedom from worry for the rest of their lives.
Thanks for listening to my rant....
Master Corporal Paul Franklin
franklin.pm@forces.gc.ca
Med Tech
1 Field Amb
Cas Sup NCO LFWA
Soem may notice that i am a horrible speller....please take that as an example of what mild traumatic brain injury can do.....similar to a hockey player getting too many concussions...my TBI reflects itself in the higher brain function of spelling. On an MRI there would prob be no changes from before the tour and there is no medical treatment for it as it would be akin to using a baseball bat where a needle might be more appropriate. When you see a fellow Afghan vet (i use them as they are exposed to explosions fairly frequent and of course our EOD or CER guys) give them a lil bit of leeway on such simple things as spelling or math....there may be a good reason for it.
