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24 Hr. Commercial Truck Service 928 Winston Churchill Blvd. Oakville From October 1st to December 15th, 2010 On Passenger or Light Truck tires only $70 AND RECEIVE Buy 4 safe MICHELIN tires A better way forward MAIL-IN REBATE w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, N ov em be r 1 0, 2 01 0 1 6 By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The incident only lasted for perhaps a minute and a half, but the impression it made may last a lifetime. Oakville resident and Canadian Forces Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Smith, stepped out of his vehicle in Kabul preparing to attend a meeting on border security, which was being held between the senior military lead- ers of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Suddenly, Smith noticed the normally busy streets were empty with both pedestri- ans and vehicles now giving the meeting site a wide birth. Smith said the sudden departure of civil- ians from an area is often a warning that some manner of attack is about to take place. Smith and the American Lieutenant- Colonel he was with, who were only armed with their personal weapons, had actually begun discussing how they were going to fight their way out of the coming situation when an Afghan soldier approached them and ushered them into the meeting. Nothing happened that day, however, this incident has stayed with Smith and is now one of his most prominent memories of his nine months in Afghanistan. Sometimes uncertainty can be crushing for short periods of time, said Smith. Soldiering can sometimes be long peri- ods of the mundane followed by intense periods of very high level sustained adrena- line flow. Smith said as Canadas role in Afghanistan has escalated, so too have these periods of intensity faced by Canadian sol- diers with these periods growing in length and frequency. All of this takes its toll, said Smith, who pointed out that all soldiers who serve in Afghanistan come back changed in some way. Seeing fallen comrades loaded into planes bound for Canada was one sight, Smith said, that had a lasting impact. The first time you experience a ramp ceremony, it is hugely traumatic, I think for every sol- dier. There have been far too many of them and I can tell you they never get easier, he said. When you see that amassing of soldiers (for a ramp ceremony) at Kandahar Airfield and there are jets coming and going because youre in a war zone, it brings a whole different mean- ing to remembrance. While much attention has been given to the serious side-effects of war, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, not all of the changes that come from a tour in Afghanistan are bad. Smith said his time in the war-torn country made him truly grateful for the peace and security he enjoys at home. After seeing how little most Afghans have and what they have to go through just to survive, Smith admits he can become frustrated when he hears some of the complaints made by people in Canada. Often children in our society complain about everything to do with their school- ing, he said. Kids over in Afghanistan, they walk for hours with no shoes to get into a place (like that). Their schools are getting blown up by the bad guys, but they still risk everything to try and get there to study. They place a value on this that is huge and we take all of this for granted in our society. During his time in Afghanistan, in 2007 and 2008, Smith saw a great deal. Some of the more unpleasant experi- ences included seeing shredded Canadian Forces vehicles, which had driven over Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Rapidly driving through the streets of Kabul in an effort to avoid the suicide bombers he knew were out there was listed by Smith as another unpleasant experience, as was a time when his vehicle rounded a corner in Kabul and came to a place where only moments earlier an IED had exploded, killing a number of civilians. Can you ever forget your name? I think when you see traumatic experiences in your life they are embedded in your soul, said Smith. How do I live with it? Thats a good ques- tion because the events are just as real a couple years later as they were when they happened and at different points in time they come out very quickly. Smith said it is important for soldiers to deal with these feelings and not try to deny they are there. With the end of a deployment in Afghanistan tour left lasting impression SUBMITTED PHOTO FAMILY REUNION: Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Smith was reunited with his daughter Captain Stephanie Smith, a nurse at the NATO base at the Kandahar airfield. See Returning page 18 Can you ever forget your name? I think when you see traumatic experi- ences in your life they are embedded in your soul. Lieutentant- Colonel Guy Smith