Army Guy

You should ask that same question to those school kids that have visted some of our war cemetaries in Europe, and toured the actually battlefields in france, such as vimy...or talked to anyone that has walked the ground on some of the NAZI concentration camps....it does lead into other things , more questions,more discusion, and a deeper understanding...it's not so dry and boring, when you can see thousands of Canadian grave markers, or smell the lingering death of the ovens....and while this oportunity does not eist to all our school children, there are plenty of vidios, movies, pictures to drive the same piont home...maybe we can finally get a generation that will not know war...

I think it is because we don't spend enough time educating the latest generation, All the vets i talked to this year, express this concern, in fact the legion spent more than usual doing just that going to the schools and telling them there stories...The Military also hit alot of schools but history takes more than just one 30 min vist once a year... The Vets are worried about what is going to happen when thier gone. who is going to keep the torch burning...who is going to remember...

If your talking about becoming a grunt that would hold some water, but the forces has alot of trades that require a better resume than what is accepted in the RCMP...You'd be surprised at how many current RCMP members are actually ex military. I think you miss the piont it is after all a garbage collectors we are talking about, I would hope that our nations soldiers would be paid atleast as much as our nations garbage collectors.... A Members dental care is looked after, but this is not unusual for companies to do this...as for my families dental care we are subdised for some dental under Blue cross..which is available to most. Traveling expenses are paid, provided it is for military business,IE courses, training,...it's not all that great, compared to say other governmental employees....and it only covers the member...unless it is a move... subsidized housing changed 5 or more years ago, And is no longer available..currently all rents on PMQ's are based on the average of what it costs downtown, for the same size of dwelling....So Housing is different across the country, out west you pay more than out east, you pay alot more if your in say toronto or in the city..keep in mind that those military PMQ's where constructed in the early 50's and you are paying the same rent as the ons down town constructed in the 90's 00 era...alot of military families are now purchasing thier own homes as a result. free travel on forces planes today is not the same as it was years ago, there is not a dedicated aircraft fleet for passagers....most haul cargo and there is a chance you can get a seat on these aircraft...if you don't mind cargo class...a nylon strapped seat on some herc...and you won't find many families flying on this flights...as they are not garenteed to get you to your designation... Yes DND does cover the cost of your move, after all we serve at our countries pleasure, and as a result members move frequently....but one has to admit, most of these postings are not gems, Suffield Alberta, Shilo Manitoba, Yellow knife NWT, Petawawa ont, out of the way places with not much to offer your family in regards to a normal life...But then again alot of companies pay for this. Thats the problem pay rates are standard across the board...regardless where you are stationed, sure the do offer some assistance in regards to the major cities rent but it does not cover half the problem...it's meant to assist, which creates another problem not alot of members want the big city postings, as it cost just to much. And i was'nt comparing a Pte's wage with an University Prof wage, but rather a garbage men wage....don't get me wrong it is a honest living , but so is soldiering... This rarely happens, it has traditional been the lowest bidder, until very recently when sole sourcing has been introduced....but not very much of our stuff is the best the market has...don't get me wrong some of it is good, but it's far from the best...

Interesting read....

Yes we can, those people responsable where French and British subjects, following French and british governments of the time....Canada was not a nation, nor did it have a government, and while those that commited those crimes may have stayed on and later became Canadian citizens one can hardly place this entire mess at the feet of Canadians....Shit we had NAZI war criminals that became Canadians , but we don't share the blame for thier crimes.... And yes the may have had a bounty placed on thier heads, the Beothic tribe is in grave danger of extinction before those British orders where put into effect. Mostly from the reasons i've already quoted... And if your statement holds true, how far back in history do we have to go, the Napoleonic war, crap we could take the blame for both sides No you pionted out that it did happen in NFLD while under british rule, and governance...And while our Canadian history is full of mistreatment of our aboriginal people, we did not persue the North American Indian situation like the US did. two governments, two different solutions, I'm not saying one was better than the other. And while history is often written by the victor or so they say, in todays world that is nearly impossiable, as sson as media became of age, and nations kept accurate histories, all one has to do is compare the two...and while in modern times you'll find that history may be alittle scued towards it's orginator, that both copies or sides generally reflect what actually happened... Every nation wants to think it's people are pure and unable to carry out war crimes, but war is hell it changes even the best of us...turning us into something we are not, animals...capable of any act if pushed into it...But in our defence our own history has captured our good side and bad, all one has to do is look for it in most reputable history books. But i think you'll find that these crimes where not carried out on a national front, or from orderes from our government making it policy....Canada did not come up with a plan to exterminate it's UNWANTED, so one can hardly lay that at the feet of Canadians....you may be able to piont out a few Canadians and place the blame with them...but you can't paint the entire Canadian nation with the same brush...

When you said delberate extermination you make it sound like Genicide....I guess none of the below reasons would play a major role in that, would they... -loss of access to important food sources, from competition with Inuit and Mi'kmaqs as well as European settlers; -infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, such as smallpox, introduced by European contact -(Western peoples also suffered from these diseases. Vaccination against smallpox did not become widespread until the late 19th and 20th centuries); -endemic tuberculosis (TB), which weakened tribal members; and -violent encounters with trappers, settlers and other natives. My next question is if Canada did not become a nation until 1867, are you going to hold Canadians responable for this event, or the british ? If Canadians are resposable, just how far back in history do we have to go before the British get some of your scorn...

This quote and Gabriel's quote are bang on. Rememberance day has nothing to do with War and all of it's baggage...It's about paying tribute to those that have fallen or served, To honor thier sacrifice that they have made towards our nation. To the Vets it's a emotional wrapped day of events, from joy of seeing old comrads, to pain of remembering those that have not come back, to guilt living while so many died, to rememberance, over a few beers with comrads talking about those that did not make it back, sharing a few laughs, and a few tears as stories are told about each one of them...its our way to ensure that we don't forget...atleast while we are still alive... As any Vet will tell you, very few good things come out of war, it's not a movie , nothing romantic about it, or is it full of adventure....It's a journey into the gates of hell.

Actually a Pte is making approx 30 k a year, with 2 and LT making 40 k a year , both are pretty respectable wages in itself. however to put things into perspective, compare them with other jobs available . Such as your avg garbage man in toronto wages are from $25 to $50 dollars an hour.... RCMP officers from 50 to 75k a year. While true the Avg Pte in the forces spends less than 4 years in the rank of Pte rank, where he recieves promotion to Cpl which wages are a respectable 50 k a year....Still well below the examples i gave above... What benifits does a soldier really get, that are not afforded by the average civilian company ? not many.. Not paying income tax while deployed on operations. for the time you are out of Canada... Danger pay.... there are a few others that really not worth mentioning.... SO the question needs to be asked are soldiers really getting paid well, Yes they are, but when you compare them to other jobs around the country, then not really.... That being said you would not find to many soldiers complaining about wages...as good as they seem today, this was not the same situation 6 to 10 years ago, when soldiers where going to food banks and drawing welfare as well just to make ends meet...So we know what shitty wages are.

All in favour , say I, there you go ladies and gentlemen Canadian democracy in action the I's have it, bring in the shipping crate, lets see food, water, phoney passports, , case of gold coins, and one bag of lies.....all right seal it up....and put it on that boat there.... Somolia...it's a muslim country right....peaceful religion....he'll be OK... NEXT...

68% of those "polled" where against sending troops...i had a survey done here in the halls of 2 RCR, 100 % agreed that polls should not be used be themselfs to prove any piont....as they are not accurate to any degree.... 100 % of those polled also believe that those polled are pussies, and outside of thier vast knowledge of "poutin" proably could not find Afghanistan on a map let alone spell it....

This is a typical Canadian response, to most problems, it all boils down to the money, and what do i get out of it....Send me your pay pal account info and i'll send you back your money...god forbid that one of our citizens can't afford the 20 bucks a year that it cost you,to support this mission.... god forbid that you share any of that wealth with a people that really need it....

It's always been an offensive Campaign,from day one... one does not over throw an entire government, hunt it's soldiers down to close with and destroy them...Canadians knew this before we got on the airplanes... How is that ?....even a dead clock is right twice a day...

We did not get sucked into anything, we were living up to one of our most important defence agreements we've signed...And after Korea we've been taking all the easy ones, or not doing anything at all, except maybe a little peace keeping...It was time we stepped up, and we did...we'll just have to suck it up.

Correct me if i'm wrong but i thought our entire government and the way we did bussiness was based on the British system, to change that to a republic would mean changing our entire governmental process,...or are you saying that we just back fill the Queen and GG with a blank postion...and keep things the way they are now.... Just one question in regards to this whole process, perhaps i'm wrong but did not Quebec vote on becoming a province and to join Canada and our current form of government...would changing our governmental status, change that process...IE such as the US has now where no referundum can be issued in order to form thier own country...etc etc once commited then it takes everyone involved across the republic to change it....

Is the Ont government trying to take advantage of the Support the troops fad. My linkwww.torontosun.com/

I stand corrected...

You can correct me if i'm wrong but in this para your saying if we fight Extremist Islam with the same zeal as we did Nazism then it can be defeated.... And here your saying we can not defeat extremist Islam with force, so we should learn just to get along....Which deamnds should we accomodate, Burkas, Shia law, I let you pick but plse tell us what they are...Tell us what these terrorist have to offer that we would consider accomodating...

I never said it was why we went, i said it was what motivates me in to returning. Burma was the best example you could could find, not Dafar, or for that matter most of the African continent... Our current Military is the size it is because Canadians want it that way, yes they are concerned about it, and what we do with it, but when they see the price tag that concern drops , in favour of something that dirrectly effects them today, right now....and your not going to change that, so for now our country is a one mission at a time...Burma, Dafar are all going to have to wait...

Not a limited list , just what the law states, in regards to protests, If they are willing to step it up to include throwing eggs, then they must accept the counter from authorities...once you break the law, then it's game on...Your not protesting but there to start violence. If your protest had any leg to stand on do you really need to throw things...like soldiers standing at attention unable to move or protect themsleves...."that is making a statement" is it not.... All these idiots did was to embarrass themselfs, thier cause, and our country....for a small amount of media coverage...which most Canadians would find thier actions in the plain stupid catagory....

I have no problem with protests, or getting off the couch, and yes i've preached just that in the past... But this protest exceeds those rights and freedoms granted to each of us...Once things get thrown you've crossed the line, and if that is the limit to your protesting abilities then stay home..All your doing is using violence in order to make a piont... The eggs where thrown to get a reaction for authorities, and more media coverage....And we handed that to them on a platter....if we continue to hand it out like candy it will become the norm for fringe groups trying to make a statement...

This group has done nothing but embarrass, themselfs, Quebec, and Canada all in less than 30 mins... What they did forget was this famous french regt was going to recieve thier Royal Colors, one of the highest honors that monarchy can bestow on a unit...A unit that was made up of Quebecors, that have a honorable past.. Regardless if we dislike they monarchy or not, they are still our monarchy like it or not, they are a guest in this country, and we should act accordly, Tossing eggs, and insulting remarks are not actions of a group that wants a solution to thier problems, they where trying to provoke a similar reaction.....We gave them exactly what they wanted "attention"....they should of been swept off the streets and nothing said in the media....

Yesterday i attended the rememberance day in Fredricton N.B and was impressed by the amount of people who showed up, and the welcome we recieved as we marched on and around the memorial...it filled me with pride to see so many and how proud they were of all of us....For that i thank you. To the vets to whom i had the pivilage of sharing a beer or two,at the Legion, Thanks for putting everything into perspective for me, to listen to these men's stories , thier hardships, thier losses...really sank home, thier similarities and differences of both our experiances at war... Anyways i toast you once more, thanks.

I don't mean to sounding like a jerk , but your right, it does not matter if you like them, or if they stand as valid or rational reasons...They are what motivates me into believing that this mission is an honorable one,one worth all the time,effort,blood, sweat and tears our soldiers have given. 1. Defense agreements that we have signed with the USofA, our closest niebour,allied,trading patner. 2. Defense agreements we have signed with NATO. 3. We have a responsability to finsih the job we started, we assisted in removing another government in power in the nation of Afghan, we also have the responsibility to ensure we assist in rebuilding that in which we destroyed, so it can stand on it's own, and defend itself from it's enemies. 4. We've given our word as Canadians, that we where there to help assist the Afghan government to rebuild thier nation out of the ashes of war...I don't recall when we started this whole thing, that we would put a time line on it...Lets remember that it was Canada that offered to help....and our word should mean something...not when the going gets rough we quit... 5. Our nations military reputation, and while this is not a concern for most Canadians, Never in our history have we just stood up and quit because the job was becoming to deadly, or tough...and frankly todays soldiers don't want to carry that around. for serveral reasons. our allieds respect, the Afghan peoples respect, world opinion...remember how Canadains wore that peacekeeping badge around thier neck so proudly. 6. To quit would mean that our blood sweat and tears contribution to this mission would be deminished or for nothing...and the final objective was not accomplished which is freedom, and peace within Afghan... And while Canadians will disagree with this way of thinking some say it will only become a worse situation in the future...you have to remember that the Canadian soldier does not quit, we are picked, trained, and drilled, that quiting is not an opition...it is built into our personalities....We owe it to our fallen to suceed...for us soldiers there is more at stake here than just feeling good about the job that has already been accomplished... 7. Our nation is one that has so much to offer, not just Afghan but the rest of the world as well. But we are a nation that has to be shocked into given anything up, Here in Afghan is a chance for us to show not only the Afghan people but the rest of the world that we are willing to share our freedoms, our values, our wealth to those less fortunate....That we are living up to not only our Defense agreements but also our G-8 responsibilties as well.. 8. Personally in my 3 tours in Afghan i've meet some incrediable people, Afghan military people that have dedicated thier lives and have lost so much in this strugle...Afghan locals that really want some of these freedoms we offer...and to a small girl who i had the honor of sharing my lunch with one day on patrol...these people i would have a tough time looking into thier eyes and telling them we are leaving because our nation has grown tired of this conflict... There are others but i'll stop here...

I thought some of you may be interested in this article, it offers another link to our vets opinions and thoughts. Perhaps tommorow you can join me in a toast of your favorite refreshment to those that have gone before us... My link

The UN did it to themselfs, by crating RO&E that prevented us from stopping tragies before they happened...look at bosina, and the dutch ask them if they have any love for the UN....ask Rwanda if they have love for the UN....How effective do you think our police force would be if all they could do is report crimes...not stop them.... Is it distrusted, got any proof to back that up....The locals can tell you more about the Canadian military than the average Canadian can...so yes i'm sure they know exactly whom they are dealing with at any given time...This is not about are why loved more than the Americans, it's about the taliban and in regards to them yes us and the US and ranked as the good guys..