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May 22 Sometimes, not like others... I use to think that there were things, Gods as it were, on my side. Now I know that's not true. I see the rest of my life piss by like a train, only to try and hold on to the second class hand-rail, and pray I don't let go. But every once in a while, things come up better then most think. I'll see myself in heaven, and hell, drinking to each of you. Hoping and dreaming you'll all drink as much as me. You are the best and worst that life has to offer. You are the life that I know, and the life that I wish I could have. May 21 I thought she was the best...She probably was... You can take, all the tea in china Put it in a big brown, bag for me Sail right around, the seven oceans Drop it straight into the deep blue sea She's as sweet as Tupelo honey She's an angel of the first degree She's as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey, from the bee You can't stop us, on the road to freedom You can't keep us, cause our eyes can see Men with insight, men in granite Knights in armor bent on chivalry She's as sweet as Tupelo honey She's an angel of the first degree She's as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey from the bee You can't stop us on the road to freedom You can't stop us cause our eyes can see Men with insight, men in granite Knights in armor intent on chivalry She's as sweet as Tupelo honey She's an angel of the first degree She's as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey from the bee You know shes alright You know shes alright with me Shes alright, shes alright You can take, all the tea in china Put it in a big brown bag for me Sail it right around, the seven oceans Drop it smack dab in the middle of the deep blue sea Because she's as sweet as Tupelo honey Shes an angel of the first degree Shes as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like honey from the bee Shes as sweet as Tupelo honey Shes an angel of the first degree Shes as sweet as Tupelo honey Just like the honey, baby, from the bee Shes my baby, you know shes alright..... October 27 That's What It TakesIf you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell Just like an old time movie 'bout a ghost from a wishin' well In a castle dark or a fortress strong With chains upon my feet You know that ghost is me And I will never be set free As long as Im a ghost that you can't see If I could read your mind love
What a tale your thoughts could tell Just like a paperback novel The kind that drugstores sell When you reach the part where the heartaches come The hero would be me But heroes often fail And you won't read that book again Because the endings just too hard to take I'd walk away like a movie star Who gets burned in a three way script Enter number two A movie queen to play the scene Of bringing all the good things out in me But for now love, lets be real I never thought I could act this way And Ive got to say that I just dont get it I dont know where we went wrong But the feelins gone And I just cant get it back If you could read my mind love What a tale my thoughts could tell Just like an old time movie 'bout a ghost from a wishin' well In a castle dark or a fortress strong With chains upon my feet But stories always end And if you read between the lines You'll know that I'm just tryin to understand The feelins that you lack I never thought I could feel this way And I've got to say that I just to get it I don't know where we went wrong But the feelin's gone And I just cant get it back September 16 That's The WayI don't know how I'm gonna tell you, I can't play with you no more, I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me, My friend, the boy next door. I can't believe what people saying, You're gonna let your hair hang down, I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long, You're in the darker side of town. And when I'm out I see you walking, Why don't your eyes see me? Could it be you've found another game to play, What did mama say to me? And yesterday I saw you standing by the river, And weren't those tears that filled your eyes? And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying, Had they got you hypnotized? And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers, But all that lives is born to die. And so I say to you that nothing really matters, And all you do is stand and cry. I don't know what to say about it, When all your ears are turned away, But now's the time to look and look again at what you see, Is that the way it ought to stay? July 03 When The MAN Comes Around...There's a man going around taking names The hairs on your arm will stand up Hear the trumpets hear the pipers one hundred million angels singing
And the whirlwind is in the thorn trees Then the father hen will call his chicken's home Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still May 30 More Letters From The WastelandNow coming down Out of this swandive to your arms I make no sounds When I move thru your reservoirs I wake up quick I wake up sick As you abandon me Into these fields of rank and file Thru this cloud I hear you breathing Thru these bars I watch them bring more in Now boy keep still Don't spread yourself around Get back in line Eat your bread And just work the ground 'Cause you're not through They're not done with with you Did you think you were The only one who's been let down So sleep tight little boys of the new dam Let them drop in the quicksand Now another bad idea gets thru Down they send me unto you Every bridge I should have burned Every lesson I've unlearned When the smoke give way to ruins Incarcerated lovesick fools I wait for you to cut me loose But until then Now I send back letters from the wasteland home Last slowdance to this romance on my own May take two to tango, but boy it takes one to let go April 20 A Land Of Hope And DreamsGrab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks You don't know where you're goin' But you know you won't be back Darlin' if you're weary Lay your head upon my chest We'll take what we can carry And we'll leave the rest Big wheels rolling through fields Where sunlight streams Meet me in a land of hope and dreams And I will provide for you I'll stand by your side You'll need a good companion For this part of the ride Leave behind your sorrows Let this day be the last Tomorrow there'll be sunshine And all this darkness past Big wheels roll through fields Where sunlight streams Meet me in a land of hope and dreams March 19 And Death Shall Have No DominionAnd death shall have no dominion Dead men naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone They shall have stars at elbow and foot Though they go mad they shall be sane Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again Though lovers be lost love shall not And death shall have no dominion. March 07 The PipesWell, by now you all should have heard the news that we have lost another soldier. Cpl Kevin Megeney, just some young kid from Nova Scotia, that's not going home to his family the way he should be. We first realized something was wrong when the phones went down. The locks were put on the doors, the computers shut down and we went into what's called a COMS LOCK. Communication with the outside world is cut-off until the next of kin can be notified. It was a sureal experience. We knew that when that happens something bad has happened, but we don't know what. It took about a hour or so for the news to start filtering down the chain that we had indeed lost a man. It leaves you with an empty feeling. Something you can't put your finger on, but a somber sadness that envelops the camp. We sat on the deck of Old Canada House, a dozen or so of us, silent. It was the first time any of us has not said a word to each other. We couldn't even look at each other. We just sat, staring off into some region of space thinking about any number of different things; family, the friends we've made here, what if it had have been one of them. None of us knew this boy, he was just another Canadian, far from home. We thought about how lucky we had been that we had never had to face this situation before, and hoped we never would. But then it was all shattered when the word finally came, "man down." Throughout the night, as soldiers came and went, they were all very quite, lost in thought about how another life had been lost in Afghanistan. We all slept poorly, thinking of the day to come. How the news would travel. How soon it would be on TV back home. How soon would we have to dawn our blacks and head down to the flight line to stand, and watch another Canadian make his last trip home. There was an air around the camp today, not just with the Canadians, but with the whole of the other nations here in KAF. A sadness that they had lost another one of their own. We knew that sometime that night we would have to say goodbye to a kid from Nova Scotia. About 8:30 local time we all made our way to the main hanger here at KAF; a rough looking building that still shows the scars from the fighting to take the air field from the Taliban. Hundereds of troops, not just ours but every nation here on camp stood, waiting to form up and march to the C-130 that would fairy Cpl Megeney home. There was little talking, just the stuffling of feet as we formed ranks and marched to the Herc. It was dark by the time the chaplin spoke. His words echoing over a strip of ashpalt that had grown, for the first time since we landed, quiet. There was no sound, other then the hum of the generators powering the flood lights, and his words. No planes, no helicopters, just those two sounds on a peice of land that is always busy, 24/7. And as he spoke, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the Bison carrying the body of Cpl Megeney coming into view. Then the chaplin fell silent, and the breeze picked up, enough to send the Maple Leaf waving and Cpl Megeney began his last trip down the air strip. And the hands went up, to salute a fallen soldier, just some kid from Nova Scotia. And I wept, as the flag drapped coffin slowly made it's was past me, and the pipes played Amazing Grace. And as long as I live, if I never hear those pipes again it won't be to soon. But sadly, we all know, that will probably not be the case. February 08 The Long Goodbye's
So two months have come and gone and month three is in full swing. It's had to imagine that time can go so quickly. I feel like I've missed out on so many things back home, but I wouldn't trade this time here, with these great people for all the money in Canada. This week has marked the big change here, as most of the soldiers I've grown use to and become very close to go home. I never thought that I'd get so close to some of these great men and woman, but they get under your skin and it's been hard to say goodbye. You realize as you send them off, that in all probability I will never see any of them again. But I guess that's the way life goes, people grace you with their presence and before you know it, they're gone. The good thing about them leaving is that they are no longer in harms way. The bad news is that new, raw troops will take their place and they will carry the burden of spring. The weather here right now is terrible, but when things dry up the Taliban will be out in force. It's been all to quite around here and we all know that things will very shortly change. It leaves a heavy feeling in your heart to know that soon the peace that we have enjoyed far to much will more than likely leave some of our guys hurt, or worse. You try not to think about it too much, and you joke with the guys, but even they sense the change. And they are the ones that will have to pay the price. January 25 The Sound And The FurySo hopefully what I'm about to write doesn't compromise OPSEC and get me sent home, but I just figured I'd drop a line and let you all know what's going on. Last night, to quote a popular phrase around the shit hit the fan. Johnny Taliban attacked us last night in force at the main gate. It was truly awe inspiriring to hear what went on. I wish I could have seen it. The lights from the guns as we opened up with 105mm Howitzers, mortars, 50 cals. and small arms was like a small fireworks show. Flares were sent up, and all hell broke loose. The noise was unbeliveable. At first we thought it was just night exersices, but when we realized what was actually going on, it did bring home all to fast the feeling that we really are on the front lines.
For an hour or so they traded fire with the Taliban, all the while with us watching tv. It was rather distracting trying to watch Letterman, but in the back of our minds was the thought that out there, outside the wire, they really do want us dead. It was a rather foolhearted attack, they with their Soviet era machinery and us with every weapon under the desert sun. But they use the hit and run, and we use superior firepower to send a message.
Thankfully no one was hurt, not that they're really capable of doing that with the limited weaponry they have on a fixed position, but it was still something else. Like the Fourth of July and Canada Day, all wrapped up into one. January 22 The Little Things Well, we've been here almost a month and a half and the routine has set in. A flu epidemic has broken out on camp and we're dropping like fliys. Knock on wood, I haven't been stricken yet, but I've had to work some long hours to cover people who have gone down. Things like that spread pretty quick in a place like this, so we all carry Purel around with us, and try to stay out of the tents. I've realized just how much a miss the things I use to take for granted. The ability to sleep in, channel surfing, real cheese, my own bathroom, a real bed, beer, friends, etc. You never miss something so bad, until you can''t have it. I recieved some my first letters from home a few days ago. I can only imagine the look on my face, I almost jumped for joy. It felt so good to have something to read from back home and made the distance here seem a little smaller if only for a few minutes. The mail is not the fastest over here so it took a good three weeks to get things over, but I should probably be sending some things back to Canada, so keep an eye out. I wish I had more time to write, but I've got to get back to work; on a side note, the wireless is suppose to be up and running next week, so I should finally be able to send back pictures of this wonderful little place I've gotten myself into. January 14 The Long And Short Of ItSometimes The One, is the person you least expect, but the one you miss the most. January 09 Fools And Their MoneyKAF truly is an interesting place. Every Saturday, barring any unforseen acts of violence, we have a market. It's a surreal expecience. There's an area of the camp that is walled off, razor wired with pillboxes and look out towers, that we let the locals come in and sell there wares. They go through verious check points, get searched then the dogs go through the whole area looking for IED's and the like before they let us in. It's like the old Stittsville flea market, but with Afghans and guns. From rugs to bootleg DVD's you can find almost anything there. Old Soviet area weapons, medals, and the like, that we're not aloud to send home, it truly is a very eye opening experince. There's a rather morbib joke that goes around every Saturday, (all the jokes here are rather morbib come to think of it) about the fact that half of the money that the locals make goes to the Taliban to buy the rockets that they lauch at us with alarning regularity. A few weeks ago they found an IED (imprivised exposive device) in one of the trucks bringing the locals into camp and the shit hit the fan. It was rather trying.
Imagine being accosted by homeless people in Ottawa, and multiply that by a factor of ten, the vendors will not leave you alone. It gets on your nerves if you spend more then an hour there, but they need to make a living somehow. They have children that run around trying to get you to come to there fathers' stalls, they'd almost be cute if they weren't so brazen about they way they get your attention, and then never let you get away. It's sad to think of a nation reduced to such extremes to live, but the reality is, there is very little in Kandahar province for the locals to do as there is no work, or schools. Another generation will be condemnded to poverty because of the Soviets, and now the Taliban.
On a more upbeat note I'd like to thank everyone for all the emails that you've been sending, keep them up, if you can, it's like a little piece of home when I actually get the chance to check my email, and because I can't get on the pone very often to talk to you all. Oh, but you don't need to tell me about how warm it is back in Ottawa because we're FREEZING OUR ASSES OFF over here. It was minus 15 this morning, and that didn't include the windchill, or the sand storm that was brought about by them. It's like beige fog, but it gets into everything. It's not really sand, it's more like a fine powder that coats the whole of the camp and your lungs. The New Year In KAFWell the holiday season has come and gone in KAF, though it wasn't much of a holiday. Whereas back home people get time off and things shut down, we were just as busy and the base kept running, 24/7. The planes kept taking off, the helo's kept circling and the howizters kept up the thunder that we've gotten strangely use to.
Christmas day was an interesting day, while our normal day is about 16 hours, this day was a 20 hour day with all the work that needed to be done to open New Canada House on time. It's an enormous building where all the canucks can hang out, play pool, watch movies, read, and the like. We also had a beer call, a rather trying time, but well managed. The CDS was in town, along with Rick Mercer and Mary Walsh to bring a little home to the troops. The only problem was the weather. Two days of constant rain. The camp flooded, there being no place for the water to go. It's not like we have sewers and storm drains. There were puddles three feet deep and twenty feet wide in spots, and some of the tents were flooded out. We're just drying off now.
The thing about the weather is that it grounded all but the CDS's flight, and the camp was eeriely quiet. When you get use to the constant noise of planes and helo's and sirens and the like, silence makes you uneasy.
The prgression of time here is almost unbelieveable. I've been here a month now and it only seems like a few days ago we hit the ground running. I guess it's a good thing because this way we don't hae as much time to think about home. As long as we kept our minds off it, we don't miss it as much.
The temperature here has taken a turn for the worse and it rarley gets up above ten degrees during the day. The problem with that is that when the sun goes down so does the mercury, anywhere for 15 to 20 degrees. That's what makes it feel so cold, the extremes in temperature. But before we know it we'll be bitching about how hot it is.
The new year didn't feel like anything other than another day in KAF. We dolled out beer to the troops, and while there is suppose to be a two beer max, I can assure you, some found ways around that. The next morning I think half the base was hung over. But, what are they going to do, send the troops to Afghanistan? I was good by the way, so don't ask.
Well, my time grows short, so I will wrap this up with a wish that all of you have a safe and happy new year, and I'll see you all soon. One months down, five more to go. December 23 'Tis The SeasonWell, it's that time of year, and seeing as how I'm on the other side of the planet, and the phone is going to be real busy over the next few days, I wanted to take what little time I have and send a wish that you all have a SAFE and very merry Christmas. I hope all the things you're looking forward to come your way and you all enjoy happy times with friends and family. I'm there in spirit if not in person.
So from myself, my co-workers, and most of all the troops that we're here for, I wish you all the best this holiday season and hope everything back home is as good as I know it will be.
From Kandahar Air Field, Kandahar Provience, Afghanistan, Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. December 22 Life In KAFWell, I've been here two weeks now, and I'm about as settled as one can be in a place like this. It's hard to explain this place, and some of the details I have to leave out for operational security. (OPSEC, from now on) The camp is the size of a city, Honestly, it's huge, it would take a good few hours at least to walk across it. And thats the main form of transport, foot power. There's a shuttle that runs every few minutes to get you to some of the major places but other then that we walk. I got a bike a few days ago to help in getting around, but all the "roads" are gravel. Actually, everything is gravel. There's now grass, only a few trees, and dust, Dust gets into everything. You can taste it sometimes. It's only goinmg to get worse to because it's wet ovber here right now, but that will change and then we'll get the sand storms.
There are miles of tents. That's what I sleep in. 8 to a weatherhaven, mine's co-ed right none, but that will probably change. There's bunkers everywhere and concrete blast shields around our tents for the rockets that we get. There are rarely any clouds in the sky; it rains at night, and when the summer gets here, there will be even less clouds. I wish I could send pictures, but not until the wireless is back up and running.
The food, food being the losest definition of the word aswell is interesting at best. Most has no flavour, the chicken tastes like potatoes and the potatoes taste like crap. Breakfast is alright, but you can tell that most is not made with love. I know that before I get home I will be 20 pounds lighter. They do have a Burger King, Pizza Hut, Tim Hortons' Subway, and a chinese place is opening soon, but they don't quite taste right either. That's a comdination of both the dust, and the fact that most af the food is shipped over from North America, so it's frozen, not fresh.
We have trailers for showers, and there aren't enough, and Johnny's to go top the bathroom, and surprsingly they are a whole lot cleaner then we thouight they would be. Almost everyone that has come over with me, or just after is sick in one form or another, but it's getting to the point where we're just learning to live with it.
I've spent most of my time either training, or working on the new Canada House, an huge building with games, tv's pool table and the like for the Canunks over here. It was suppose to be open a week ago, but the weather has been bad, so we're behind schedule. We hope to have it the grand opening on Christmas, and that will go along with our first real beer call. Two beer, no more, but we figure we'll get one on New Years as well.
Life in general over here is harder, but we all expected that. But it really makes you thankful for all the things we take for granted at home. Just outside the wire are burned, and bombed out buildings that some Afgans still call home. Not a day goes by that we don't realize just how easy we have it compared to the rest of the people in this country.
Be thankful you're at home, because we take it for granted far more then we should. December 18 The Rockets' Red GlareSo I'm no longer a rocket virgin. We had our first rocket attack a few days ago, a truely eye-opening experience. The attacks only come at night, so the people sleeping have a harder time with it then those who are up, I think. I guess it was about 8:30pm, when the first one hit, I was working and you could hear it going overhead. It's a sound that you really can't discribe, because you really can't put into words the trepidation that comes with the sound. The first one landed about 300 yards from where I was, and we had to bug out to one of the bunkers nearby. A second one fell a few minutes later on the other side of camp. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the siren that goes off when one comes in will be forever etched in my memory.
The funny thing is, there was another one, last night I think, that I slept right through. I had my ear plugs in, becuase we're so close to the aifstrip and there is constantly planes and choppers taking off and landing, that it helps cut down the nose. Three flew in that night, and I didn't hear a thing. I'm suppose to hit the deck and put on my PPE (flak jacket, helmet) but I never moved, I only found out about them the next day when people were talking about it. December 17 Big Ole Jet Airliner (Part II)There is something fun about a flight in a C-130, unless you're packed in like sardines, with 65 Van Do's who don't speak a lot of Engligh, and seem a little afraid to fly. Add on the fact that we're geared up in your flak jackets and helmets for almost three hours and the bathroom is a bucket with a trap around it. The flight wasn't bad, just cramped, and unfortunately we didn't get a combat landing, though the pilot did throw us areound a bit.
We landed in KAF (Kandahar Air Field) at about 1pm Wednesday, the 6th, and I can honestly say that I have never been so tired in my whole life. It took two whole days to get here and I think I got about 3 hours sleep the entire time. One a side note, the Loadmaster on our Herc was not very happy with the Van Do's beacuse a couple of them yakked on the flight, and he busted in on our toughdown meeting to raise hell and f ind the guys that did it.
The biggest shock to the sytem on landing here is the weather. I knew it was going to be cold, and I brought the right clothing for the next few months, but it REALLY is cold. I think when we landed it was warmer in Ottawa. Come to Afghanistan and freeze your ass off, my travel agent said nothing about this. Maybe that's why I have phenmonia? December 09 Big Ole Jet Airliner (Part I)So here we go. We left, (we being Bev and Heather, two of my co-workers) Ottawa on Monday, the 4th. The flight to Montreal was uneventful, but man they don't make seats big enough for guys my size. Damn small seats! We had a three hour lay over in Montreal, so we figured this was as good a spot as any to have one of our last beers for a very long time. $7 a pint, if it wasn't for the fact that this was our last beer, I would have passed. The security check at Montreal made me scratch my head about air safety in Canada. In Montreal they found a 4" knife in my carry on bag that I thought I had left in Ottawa. They were not overly happy at such a discovery, but what blew my mind is that I made it through Ottawa with it in my bag and nobody noticed.
The flight out of Montreal to Frankfurt was ok until we were about 45 minutes on the other side of Newfoundland. The pilot got on the speaker and told us that we were about to get caught in a gulf stream? and that the turbulence would be very rough. That was a grand understatement. I have been all over on planes but have never gone through anything like this in my life. I honestly thought we were going to die, and so did everyone on the plane. We dropped some 25 to 50 feet in one air pocket. I have never been so happy to put to feet on the ground in my life.
Greg, tell Pete that Frankfurt International isn't as good as he made it out to be. They were doing a ton of construction, so there was nothing really to do, plus there was only two washrooms in the whole of the terminal we were in. That does not make a 6 hour layover fun. On the plus side I could smoke in the airport, so that wasn't that bad.
By the time we got on the flight to Dubai, we had all been up for about 26 hours, with no sleep, and only airport food to hoild us over. We picked up two extras in Frankfurt, Karl and Mikey, both great guys. The flight to Dubai was short for me because I feel alseep after take off and didn't get up until we were about to touch down. This brings about the second scarry moment of the trip over. As we were about to put wheels down on the ground we caught a cross wind and lerched hard left and landed on just the outside set of wheels. You could feel the plane lift up on the right side and we thought, flight attendants included, that we were going to hit the runway with the tip of our left wing and cartwheel. Then we bounched (747's aren't meant bounch, it's like flying an apartment building) to right, and the same feeling hit us, but some how the pilot managed to pull us through. |
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