Support YOUR Troops! NOW Dammit!

With the recent loss of Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder from Penticton, B.C. and Capt. Steve Leary of Brantford, Ont, moral for our guys and gals in Afghanistan is at an all time low.

When I first heard of Capt. Leary's death, it was initialy reported as an "unidentified soldier from Brantford" and I panicked. More than a dozen people from 56th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, which I served in, are there now.

Some of them close friends.

Some of them I grew up with.

Capt Leary will be honoured in Brantford on Wednesday, June 11th. If you would like to lend support, you can find details here.

The troops there are lonely, miss home (you would too half a planet away) and have taken up hobbies and pastimes to while away the off hours. (Yes, they do get down time). Some practice martial arts, some read, knit, do whatever they can to distract themselves.

There is no drinking, the base is dry to respect the customs of their host country.

Even the luxurious living quarters like the one pictured here get a little cramped.

One of the more interesting clubs over there is a scale model building group. Yes, trained soldiers building model airplanes, ships, cars, whatever they can get their hands on. Having built many scale models myself, I know how well it can take your mind away from everything around you. Some corporation even stepped up and donated a swack of kits, and if I knew who it was, I'd plug them.

Trouble is, they lack supplies to build them with.

Paint, brushes, glue, sandpaper (mind you they have lots of sand !) all are at a premium over there.

Yes, they seem like silly little things to send to a war zone, but it would do so much for moral.

When you were a kid at camp, did you not long for something from home?

We buy "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers, hats, t-shirts, cups, dog collars etc. Heres our chance to do it directly.

One of my comrades is making the trip home soon for a few weeks and we could send him back with a duffel bag full of supplies.

If you would like to contribute, just let me know.

If you don't want to contribute, thats fine too.

There are 85 Canadians that have contributed for you in the past five years, and hundreds in the last sixty years.



DJW