Re: “Tragically flawed Afghanistan remembrance,” opinion, Nov. 16.
Wiiliam Geimer attempts to cast aspersions on Afghanistan remembrance.
Canada’s initial military mission to Afghanistan was approved by prime minister Jean Chretien in 2001. The mission was expanded by prime minister Paul Martin. The reasons for Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 offered by Geimer are simplistic, misleading and insulting.
A Nov. 9 Times Colonist commentary by retired colonel Jamie Hammond highlights some of the contributions to Afghanistan made by Canadians as identified by Shinkai Karokhail, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, at the B.C. Afghanistan Memorial dedication last year.
I was saddened to read that Geimer views the life of his friend, U.S. army pilot Gordon Walsh, who was killed in a 1967 helicopter crash in the China Sea, as a death “for nothing.”
Walsh, while deployed in Vietnam, flew helicopters for troops deployed in operational areas. Forty-nine years later, it was a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter crew that evacuated Capt. Trevor Greene, Canadian Seaforth Highlanders, from the Afghan village of Shinkay after he was attacked while sharing tea with village elders. Greene attended the Afhganistan Memorial dedication and accepted a gift from the Afghan ambassador for his service.
The Afghanistan memorial does not glorify war. The design of a Canadian soldier extending his hand to an Afghan youth was based on a photo taken in Afghanistan. There is no weapon in this image. The memorial captures the essence of Canadians, people who care about others and wish to make positive contributions.
Don Lovell
Victoria
