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We must remember all who strive to preserve peace and fight crime |
Letter to the Editor To Comment on this article Click Here |
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As you know over these last few
months there has been a lot of talk and criticism about the army
and the police and how they do/did their jobs. Most of the criticism came from “arm-chair quarter-backs” who never left the comfort of their homes. When we talk of Remembrance Day, please do NOT restrict your thoughts to just WORLD WAR veterans. Anyone who has served in uniform, in any UN Armed Forces is a veteran, even if he/she never went overseas. Don't forget the local police either. They fight the "silent" war against the local criminals around you and me. My Personal experience In the year 1975, I became a Canadian citizen. To pay back to Canada what I thought every immigrant should do, I enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces as soon as I got my citizenship and became a Lieutenant. In those days, Canada was involved ONLY in peace-keeping missions, relief work or search-&-rescue. On one of my tours of duty in British Columbia, I was in charge of base maintenance at CFB Chilliwack, for land vehicles and personnel carriers. All of a sudden, we were asked to support the local police, immediately, as we all were trained in riot control and “internal security” as well. So my platoon and I were sent out to help local police, to guard a water tank that the Greenpeace people were threatening to poison, because of a protest against the killing of baby seals on the other coast. About 20 of us went out for 24 hours, with the assurance that we would get relief every eight hours. But, no one came to relieve us at all. After three days, that stand-off came to an end, as the Greenpeace people got tired and left, doing minimal damage. But we had to be prepared for the worst at all times. All the time, after sun-set, it was so dark that you could not see your hand in front of your face - with the protesters lurking behind the bushes. With no sleep, no rest, no relief and very few rations, we stood our post and maintained our commitment and did NOT desert the army. There were several protesters who insulted our mothers and called us names and even touched us and tried to grab our weapons to try to get us into a position of “excessive force” for the benefit of the ever-present media. Twenty of us were so few compared to the 200 or so of them. Such missions are happening all the time, but never get reported in the media. And every other insult at me was laced with "go back where you came from." People laugh today at “Officer Bubbles” from the G-20 summit but put yourself in his shoes. I’ve been there. I understand. Just try driving down Highway 401 with two kids in the back blowing soap bubbles at you. It is not funny to stand, hour-after-hour, not knowing if you will see your kith-and-kin again, tonight. Also, always remember that protesters who hide behind a front line of women and children are nothing but cowards, even though the media makes them look like angels.
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 It would have been so easy to
control that mob, if we just had permission to even load our
weapons, for even a kid could see from a mile that we did not have
our ammo-magazine affixed to the weapons. So we had no “teeth” as
we were NOT to act as soldiers but as cops or glorified, unarmed,
security guards That is why I would rather be a soldier than a cop - for you know not who your enemy is. At that time, several protesters threw unknown objects at us - rotten eggs, tomatoes, pine-cones, manure bags, glass bottles, etc. If a protester acted as if he was lunging back to toss a grenade (or a Molotov cocktail) at us, we could not tell - what would you recommend we should do? Please do not tell me to ask him to show his ID to see if he is 15 or 50? I know the answer, if the choice was his life or mine. You know the answer too, if you were in my shoes. Besides, there I was defending the lives of a few thousand people who were drinking from that water tank, NOT just my life. And yet my chest was there to stop a bullet or a grenade. Sure, I never supported the killing of seals. But I had a commitment to protect you, the citizens of my country. I will never criticize a police officer for drawing his weapon - for I do not know his situation. Once again I remind you, when we talk of Remembrance Day, please do NOT restrict your thoughts to just WORLD WAR veterans. Anyone who has served in uniform, in any UN Armed Forces, is a veteran, even if he/she never went overseas. Regards, Ed Daniel Kincardine Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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