Let us remember troops in Afghan mission
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Sun Nov 6 2011
Page: D5
Section: Monitor
Byline: Maj. (reitred) Nigel Smythe-brown
Column: Major’s Corner
Source: Times Colonist
“All you hoped for, all you had, you gave, To save mankind – yourselves you scorned to save:”
The above is from the second verse of that marvellous yet wrenching hymn O Valiant Hearts.
Now that we have left Afghanistan perhaps we can take a moment to recall our presence there for eight years before the collective memory grows dim amongst our fellow Canadians. We did our best for that benighted, corrupt and religiously straightjacketed country, fighting disease and ignorance as well as the fanatical Taliban. We built hydro facilities, roads and wiped out polio a scourge borne mostly by children. Our soldiers guarded the girls schools that our engineers built, for girls are to be abused and made slaves in the minds of most who live there. We gave them a chance but that is all, for we cannot stay forever and a country must in the end be responsible for their own actions.
I have mentioned before in this space that a young lad who is part of our extended family returned to us over a year ago after serving in that theatre of war, unharmed and none the worse for wear. I am sure I speak for all the Smythe-Browns that while we are extremely proud of him, it was the worst year of our lives. For many across this country it was a terrible experience and for a few, more than can be expressed. After each such war all we can proclaim is: Never again.
However, we would be naive to think that we have much to say about things like that, for when our country calls we must galvanize and prepare to march, sad but true. I want to be positive and hope that all mankind will suddenly stop what millenniums of forefathers have ignored, mass war and a willingness to kill.
It is a fact that prime ministers and presidents, those that declare war, die in their beds, while the young who are ordered into battle often fall far from theirs. I fear for my grandchildren, as I worry we will never learn. The idea is that we have become sophisticated enough to negotiate our way through the hallways of antagonism and intrigue.
Whether or not one believes in a deity should not stop us from realizing the promise of the New Testament, that of the Good Samaritan, Do unto others and The Loaves and Fishes examples. The Bible as produced during the reign of James I is 400 years old almost to the day and is still one of the most intellectually stimulating works extant. Then why did they, those Secretaries of God as they were known, include the insanity of the Book of Revelations, with all its bleak nihilistic forecasts and love of war after the beauty of the writings of Matthew and Luke? We are still cursed by madmen quoting its ravings to this day, which is less than helpful in learning to forgive and forget.
At the club, we play our part of heralds to what is past, for no one hates war more than soldiers that have hugged the ground and called for their mothers under fire. We have a dwindling few who remember the guns of the long ago conflicts whose elbows are now held by the steady hands of returning new vets, truly brothers in arms. This Friday, we will as always have our service in the dining room of the club, where our elected leader will lead us through the familiar yet still moving tribute to our fallen comrades, and we will remember. Not only the dead, of course, but the thankfully returned who stand among us as examples of what we were forced to do again with our young.
I pray that this year you will surmount any embarrassment you may have and bow your heads for a moment at 11 a.m. wherever you are and remember our veterans of all ages and be grateful.
copyright christopher dalton 2015
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