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lfejoel25
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only about half canadian army news, but i thought i'd post it.
Sum 41's Chuck Speaks
The U.N. peacekeeper embraces punk-rock immortality
United Nations peacekeeper Chuck Pelletier is looking forward to sharing a cigar and a scotch with Sum 41 when he returns home to Canada in December. The band members credit him with saving their lives in May when violence broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing them to evacuate the African nation. The group was so appreciative that it named its upcoming album (due October 12th) Chuck. Pelletier can't wait to hear it. In fact, he's never heard a single note of Sum 41.
"It's impossible for me to get music CDs mailed to me," says the thirty-eight-year-old, Quebec-born Pelletier from the city of Bukavu, where he is stationed. "The only thing I can get from home is medication or books . . . and it's practically impossible to download any kind of file other than email."
Pelletier first met singer Deryck Whibley, guitarist Dave Baksh, bassist Jason McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz at the U.N.'s Welfare Club, but he was unaware they were in a band. "I knew they were Canadian, so I bought them a round of beers and said, 'It's nice to have a bunch of Canucks kicking around,'" Pelletier says.
Sum 41 were in Bukavu shooting a documentary for relief organization War Child to raise awareness of the conditions in the D.R.C. A week into their nine-day visit -- during which band members interviewed war victims and played soccer with local children -- a battle broke out between the Congolese army and rebels.
Pelletier and two other workers herded the occupants of the Orchid Hotel, including Sum 41, into the lobby. With Pelletier using himself as a human shield, they ran to armored personnel carriers, which took them to the U.N. compound a half-mile away.
"He was such a hero," Whibley told Rolling Stone afterwards. "He saved forty-five people's lives that day . . . We were all hugging each other and basically saying, 'I love you -- we're gonna die now.' . . . It was the most unbelievable fear."
"This was a very traumatic experience," Pelletier agrees. "No one can be prepared for mortar fire -- the concussion is like getting hit in the face by a football player. That's why some of the people who were in the compound at the time received bloody noses."
Pelletier -- whose personal music collection consists of classical music, soundtracks and Maritime folk -- heard about the album title through an email from his nephew, a college student in Halifax. "He knows the band very well, and he is beside himself," Chuck says, laughing. "He can't believe that the old soldier actually has a punk album from Sum 41 named after him."
Pelletier will return to his wife in Victoria, British Columbia, at the beginning of December. Once home, he plans to take in a Sum 41 concert: "Wild horses couldn't hold me back."
KAREN BLISS
(Posted Sep 29, 2004)
Sum 41's Chuck Speaks
The U.N. peacekeeper embraces punk-rock immortality
United Nations peacekeeper Chuck Pelletier is looking forward to sharing a cigar and a scotch with Sum 41 when he returns home to Canada in December. The band members credit him with saving their lives in May when violence broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, forcing them to evacuate the African nation. The group was so appreciative that it named its upcoming album (due October 12th) Chuck. Pelletier can't wait to hear it. In fact, he's never heard a single note of Sum 41.
"It's impossible for me to get music CDs mailed to me," says the thirty-eight-year-old, Quebec-born Pelletier from the city of Bukavu, where he is stationed. "The only thing I can get from home is medication or books . . . and it's practically impossible to download any kind of file other than email."
Pelletier first met singer Deryck Whibley, guitarist Dave Baksh, bassist Jason McCaslin and drummer Steve Jocz at the U.N.'s Welfare Club, but he was unaware they were in a band. "I knew they were Canadian, so I bought them a round of beers and said, 'It's nice to have a bunch of Canucks kicking around,'" Pelletier says.
Sum 41 were in Bukavu shooting a documentary for relief organization War Child to raise awareness of the conditions in the D.R.C. A week into their nine-day visit -- during which band members interviewed war victims and played soccer with local children -- a battle broke out between the Congolese army and rebels.
Pelletier and two other workers herded the occupants of the Orchid Hotel, including Sum 41, into the lobby. With Pelletier using himself as a human shield, they ran to armored personnel carriers, which took them to the U.N. compound a half-mile away.
"He was such a hero," Whibley told Rolling Stone afterwards. "He saved forty-five people's lives that day . . . We were all hugging each other and basically saying, 'I love you -- we're gonna die now.' . . . It was the most unbelievable fear."
"This was a very traumatic experience," Pelletier agrees. "No one can be prepared for mortar fire -- the concussion is like getting hit in the face by a football player. That's why some of the people who were in the compound at the time received bloody noses."
Pelletier -- whose personal music collection consists of classical music, soundtracks and Maritime folk -- heard about the album title through an email from his nephew, a college student in Halifax. "He knows the band very well, and he is beside himself," Chuck says, laughing. "He can't believe that the old soldier actually has a punk album from Sum 41 named after him."
Pelletier will return to his wife in Victoria, British Columbia, at the beginning of December. Once home, he plans to take in a Sum 41 concert: "Wild horses couldn't hold me back."
KAREN BLISS
(Posted Sep 29, 2004)
