Below is an e-mail sent to me from Mrs. Judy Preston who has been actively working on the signing of the little pocketposties. The words from a soldier in Afghanistan certainly explain their mission well. I believe the poem was sent to the trooper from the Major Pratt public school in Russell, Manitoba. There was no author's name given. Merci les amis! Thank you for all those who have continued to support the pocket posties campaign!!
Hello everyone,
Not sure who I am sending this e-mail to, but found a box containing quite a few Canada Flag cards with a note written on the back of each one to a Canadian Soldier. I took a few that had e-mail addresses on them and well, thought I would drop you a line. My name is Warrant Officer Dan Jessome, a member of the Canadian Forces currently deployed to Afghanistan as part of the International Security
Assistance Force. My career has provided me with many adventures from fighting fires in BC, floods in Manitoba, the Ice Storm in Quebec, overseas to Kosovo with NATO, Israel and Bosnia Peace Keeping with the United Nations and now here I am in Afghanistan.
This is my first tour to Afghanistan and from the moment I stepped off the plane, it has been one experience after another. We are doing lots of good for the people who live in this unstable Country from building schools for children, drilling wells for villagers who normally get their water out of the contaminated streams and rivers, to clearing fields of unexploded ordnance so that they can plant crops to eat.
As a Canadian Soldier I hadn't a true appreciation as to how well respected we actually were as a Military until arriving here. Our Soldiers are among some of the best trained, best equipped and above all else, strongly supported by the people back home. I stand out among the 30+ Countries here in support of this mission because I wear our flag on my right shoulder. That fact alone, each and every Canadian can take great pride in.
As Remembrance Day draws closer, I can't help but remember back as a child, my Dad taking my brother, sister and me to the local Ceremony in my home town of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. I recall standing there watching all these men and women who paraded by and wondering what stories they could tell. Here I am so many years later thinking I am now one of those people that I once stood and watched.
This past Summer I was in Germany attending a course on some specific equipment here in Theatre. While there, I was fortunate to have visited two of the Canadian War Memorials, one in Vimy, France (WWI), and the other in Nijmegen, Holland (WWII). As I walked the Canadian War Cemeteries in both those locations, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Learning about the history of these places going through school, I hadn't put a whole lot of thought to what they actually stood for. To physically be there and experience the ambiance of that environment, I quickly realized why I do what I do. We are and always have been a Country who has stood up for what was right and did everything we could to assist others to experience the freedoms that we have as Canadians. Although there are many dangers here in Afghanistan, I am honoured to carry the torch as those who have gone before me.
So, to close thank you for the support. I looked for an e-mail address for the Major Pratt School in Russell, MB but came up empty handed. If any of you live close, could you please pass this along to the Principal on my behalf?
Poem - A Soldier
I was that which others did not want to be
I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do
I asked nothing from those who gave nothing and reluctantly
accepted the thought of eternal loneliness, should I fail
I have seen the face of terror
Felt the stinging cold of fear and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love.
I have cried, pained and hoped .....
But most of all I have lived times others would say were best forgotten
At least some day I will be able to say
That I was proud of what I was ......
A SOLDIER
Sincerely, thank you for the support and encouragement. Although it is just a short note and I was the one to be fortunate enough to read it, when you wrote it, you had us all in mind.
Daniel Jessome
Warrant Officer / Adjudant
Ancil Pl Comd, Maint Coy / Cmdt Pon Aux, Cie Maint
Joint Task Force Afghanistan
Force opérationnelle interarmées
National Defence / Défense Nationale
Op ATHENA Roto 8
Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Canada 3
Please take time to go to
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/
As you will see what they are doing to help our many fine men and women who served our country.
Also be sure to go to
http://www.siscanbooks.com/ if you are interested in purchasing "The Many Faces of War" and remember we will be making a two dollar donation for every book sold. Thank you.
Please contact
preston@mts.net
or
dkmisy@sympatico if you wish to participate in the "pocketposties" campaign. There have been over 10, 000 posties signed by citizens of Canada for our troops overseas. Merci/thank you.
