Re: Remembrance Day

by Ringo Mon 11 Nov 2019, 8:43 am

Letters from the trenches provide poignant reminder of Canadian soldiers' sacrifice

Published Sunday, November 10, 2019

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/letters-from-the-trenches-provide-poignant-reminder-of-canadian-soldiers-sacrifice-1.4679051

by Ringo Mon 11 Nov 2019, 9:10 am

Remembrance Day - Page 10 Soldier-funeral-20070714

Silver Cross honour needs updating, says Canada's 1st female infantry officer

CBC News · Posted: Nov 11, 2019

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/silver-cross-mother-inclusive-1.5354980

by Ringo Mon 11 Nov 2019, 9:12 am

11.11.2019

by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:12 pm

A shadow cast over Remembrance Day for one retired Veteran

"Remembrance Day doesn't end on the 11th, it's an everyday thing, it's April 18, it's July 4, it's August 11, it's October 29."

Chrissy Da Silva . Nov 11, 2019

An enlistment at what cost.

Many Canadians have fought and served to protect our values as a country, and what we perceive as rights and freedoms. Yet rarely do those come back with a sense of pride and accomplishment. This can be said in the case of Canada in Afghanistan. One too many are left shattered with no way to pick up and glue all the pieces back together.

For Shaun Arntsen his situation echoes this. A fourth generation veteran who joined the army in 1998, Arntsen was part of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, shortly after the war began. Fast forward a couple years, Arntsen suffered a brain injury. He was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was medically released in 2004.

"I think that's one of the biggest issues that Canada is in denial about its troops, it's not so much post-traumatic stress or psychological injuries, it's actual physical injuries from traumatic brain injuries or chemical injuries which would be the case with Mefloquine," explains Arntsen.

Mefloquine is a medication used to prevent or treat Malaria. It is said to cause temporary psychiatric side effects like cognitive dysfunction, nightmares, suicidal thoughts, anxiety - just to name a few. Typically these side effects are hard to detect in a war zone and if you were to have any of them, it was imperative to discontinue using the drug. Arntsen said in many cases soldiers were ordered to take the drug and if they didn't comply they would be court-martialed. The government has argued that at the time they were not aware of the impacts of the drug which has since lead to many soldiers filing lawsuits.

The neurotoxic drug - which has been marketed as Lariam, Krintafel and Arakoda - has a history of injuring the brain and brainstem. These are not side effects, but in fact symptoms of the poisoning disease, chronic quinoline encephalopath or better known as quinism.
The war in Afghanistan was the longest war Canada was involved in since the Korean War. More than 40,000 members served during those 12 years, 158 Canadian Armed Forces members lost their lives while serving including seven civilians. Thousands more suffered physical or psychiatric injuries. An estimated $18 billion was spent fighting the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban regime only to end in failure and the continued instability of the country.

Although Arntsen believes that the operational side of things went exceptionally well, he said the war became a political agenda for division. He credits this to false story telling by media outlets claiming the war to be unethical.

"When Canada left Afghanistan, the Taliban moved in to all those areas and the Americans didn't have the manpower to help or maintain that area. Quite literally after we left, the Panjaw'i just fell back into Taliban air," explains Arntsen. "We had committed to the Afghan people to help train their military, equip their military so they could handle the Taliban themselves. That was a long term commitment that Canada had made."

Canadian forces were said to have been stretched thin and if anything, Canada kept the Taliban out of Kandahar City until the American surge arrived. However, security conditions were said to have worsened every year from 2006 to 2010 as the Taliban slowly made their way into suburbs of Kandahar City, which ultimately led to news agencies reporting "failure to secure or develop Kandahar". This was a letdown on the Canadian front.

"A lot of vets from Afghanistan - this may shock people, and they may not want to read it - but we're ashamed. We're ashamed of our service, we're ashamed of what we've done and we're ashamed because Canadians are ashamed and no one wants to say it. No one wants to admit it, but this country is ashamed of the service that we did in Afghanistan. We are basically the secret that everybody wants to hide, we are the dirty little secret that everyone wants to pretend doesn't exist and we're the dirty little secret that they just want to go away. That's how people from Afghanistan feel today, that's how I feel, today," said Arntsen.

Arntsen watched his friends' blood pour out of their bodies and absorb into the sand, all for nothing. "I've got eight friends we put in the ground, I've had two friends commit suicide since. I've got friends who are so mentally messed up, including myself, that we can't even function in society anymore and Canadians don't even want to deal with what we did in Afghanistan. They're ashamed of it," he said.

"In my opinion the Canada I joined to protect in 1998, doesn't exist anymore and that Canada today has greatly undermined the sacrifice of my grandfathers and my great-grandfathers generation. Everything my great-grandfather and my grandfather fought to protect Canada against, exists in Canada today."

Cochrane Eagle

by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:29 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:32 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:33 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:35 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:36 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:37 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:37 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:38 pm

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by **Riverway** Mon 11 Nov 2019, 5:38 pm

11.11.2019

by Jeremiah Mon 11 Nov 2019, 7:13 pm

Some veterans continue to be excluded from Ontario emergency grant for service members

By Travis Dhanraj . Posted November 11, 2019

A government program designed to support Canadian veterans is still leaving many behind.

Global News reported in March the Ontario Soldiers’ Aid Commission, the province’s emergency grant program for veterans, turned away service members of recent conflicts while returning most of its budget unspent every year to the government.

At the time, then-Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod’s office told Global News that they were “exploring opportunities to strengthen our government’s supports for Canadian veterans to make a more meaningful impact.”

However, nearly eight months later there seems to be little progress on updating the commission. On Monday, Todd Smith, the current minister in charge, declined Global’s request for an interview on the matter.

“Ontario’s Soldiers’ Aid Commission predates federal government benefit programs, as well as the establishment of Veterans Affairs Canada. It provides financial assistance to veterans and their spouses and dependents of WWI, WWII, and the Korean War,” Smith’s press secretary, Christine Wood, said in an e-mail.

In March, Phillip Kitchen, an Afghanistan veteran who returned home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, told Global News he was disappointed in the government. At a low point and unable to access funds from the commission, Kitchen was living in a tent with is small child and wife.

“We’re asked to sign a contract up to, and including, our life to come home to fight a new battle against politicians and bureaucrats,” he said at the time.

Assistance from the commission, which includes funding for things such as furniture, rent, prescriptions and other health needs, would have helped the veteran immensely.

In the government statement issued to Global on Monday by Wood, pointed to other provincial initiatives.

“This week we announced an innovative pilot project to help members of the Canadian Armed Forces transition to civilian life. The pilot, known as Elevate Plus — Military, will leverage the talents of our veterans by teaching soft skills, technical skills, and provide paid job placements,” she wrote.

Smith’s office also highlighted the fact the government is exempting veterans from paying for fishing licences.

At the annual Remembrance Day ceremony on the grounds of Queen’s Park on Monday, Premier Doug Ford paid tribute to veterans.

“When these men and women were called to serve and defend Canada they were not asked about their race, their religion or politics, they were asked simply are you ready to serve your country and they were,” he said.

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns said it’s ironic Ford paid tribute while those like Kitchen are left behind.

“We shouldn’t have our veterans living on the street ever and the premier needs to do the right thing he needs to announce today remembrance day that all our veterans are treated alike, given equal respect,” he said.

“I can’t understand it for a moment. We have veterans that are in an emergency situation, that are in crisis. We have the money.

“Most of the money put in this fund to support veterans doesn’t get spent — that’s just disgusting.”

Royal Canadian Regiment Sgt. Murray Bruce Kaysmith said he doesn’t “feel it’s right.”

Kaysmith, a senior citizen, said he believes the government is not following through with its duty.

“I feel that anyone who served for this country or aided this country should have the support they need to have,” he said, adding he’s concerned for younger service members and money from the commission should be accessible to all.

“Duty is duty, back then as in today, it’s the same thing.”

Global News

by Jeremiah Mon 11 Nov 2019, 7:24 pm

11.11.2019

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