THE
SHAME HERE 4 VETS AND ESPECIALLY WOUNDED-. Where is JUSTIN TRUDEAU AND
FRIENDS.... WHERE IS THOMAS MUCLAIR AND FRIENDS.... WHERE ARE REFORMPARTY-TORY FRIENDS- GOD KNOWS PETER MAKAY DID
HIS DAMM SHARE AND ALL OF YOURS.... WHERE THE HELL ARE U.... stop doing this
.... fix this all of u now... and stop abusing our troops each and all of u...
come on now all of u are responsible 2gether
worked at Camp Hill Hospital early 70s... and
it was a disaster..... Dr.s were NOT putting the legitimate complaints of the
Vets and families.... the horrendous paper burden was just awful..... and all
political parties... JUST WANTED 2 MOVE ON...
like
WWII- Uncle Harold said.... they promised us houses 4 us heroes..... instead
our wounded got stuck in big grey buildings hidden away from society.... and
just... 4gotten.... and all politicans lied.... lied... and betrayed us.....
..
We were so broken hearted...
THIS
IS EXTRAORDINARY.... USA- check any
country around the planet- NATO COUNTRIES HIDDEN HEROES WHO HELP OUR WOUNDED
WARRIORS.... SO WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT ABANDON THEM???? Check Nova Scotia's
Elizabeth
Dole: In praise of America's 'hidden heroes'
Elizabeth
Dole 6 a.m. EDT July 4, 2013
Countless
spouses, parents and children provide care to their wounded warrior.
CANADA: "Freedom" Support our troops
WOUNDED
WARRIORS.CA- Amazing Grace
SEEKING
JUSTICE
Widow
of former navy man says Veterans Affairs refuses to believe chemicals he was
exposed to in the service led to debilitating disease and high medical costs he
suffered in his final years.
DAN
ARSENAULT STAFF REPORTER
darsenault@herald.ca
@CH_danatherald Her husband, a former Royal Canadian Navy member, has been dead
for more than a year and Dawn Collins lost in her third attempt to secure
compensation from Veterans Affairs Canada this summer.
“I
think they owe Wayne something," the Beaver Bank native said in a recent
interview.
“I
have no money to legally fight it."
Wayne
Collins, her husband of 47 years, was a stoker in the engine room of several
ships during a five-year stint in the navy in the 1960s. He later went into the
gro cery business, managing a Halifax Superstore and then running the Foodland
in Chester.
He
got sick in 2001 and the couple believe that his multiple system atrophy, or
MSA, arose from his time in the navy, when he used carbon tetrachloride as a
degreasing agent.
Becaus
e o f his illness, the couple had to give up their Foodland business and spent
$30,000 on a stem-cell treatment in Germany in 2009. It provided him increased
mobility for a year.
He
eventually became confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak. In January 2012,
pneumonia put him in hospital for months. He didn’t have coverage for that
$99-a-day stay in hospital, but Dawn said she could not care for him at home
alone or pay for at-home nursing. She said they were being charged because
Wayne did not require immediate medical attention .
He
was able to go home five weeks before his death at age 69 in July 2012.
“He
was glad” to be home, she said, adding it meant he cou ld b e with his dog and
other com for ts.
She
has paperwork from Veterans Affairs that offers to cover his expenses for that
home care, but claims she hasn’t received any of that money yet. She hasn’t
started paying for his hospital stay yet and doesn’t want to.
She
believes her husband is due compensation through a special pension because of
how he became sick. Now that he’s gone, she thinks she should have those
pension benefits extended to her. She currently receives a pension of $160 a
month because of the hearing loss he suffered while in the navy.
Collins
said she is a lowincome earner, working at a nearby Walmart.
“I’m
angry because I think Wayne would still be alive if he didn’t serve his
country. I feel ripped off. Wayne got this disease and I honestly, in my heart,
believe that it was from exposure to the chemicals.”
She
takes issue with Veterans Affairs’ dismissal of her claim. In essence, they
argue there is no record to show her husband was exposed to carbon
tetrachloride and there is no evidence to prove that is what made him sick.
She
said paperwork from the decommissioning o f the ships claims that dangerous
chemicals were found. Also, a recent court decision in England accepted that s
omeone there had come down with MSA because of exposure to carbon
tetrachloride. She also says that her friend’s stepfather contacted MSA from
carbon tetrachloride use.
And
she argues that members of the Veterans Affairs appeals board didn’t have
medical experience.
Halifax
lawyer Ray Wagner has been monitoring Collins’ attempts to win compensation. He
said Veterans Affairs provided counsel to the family free of charge.
He
agrees that proving Wayne Collins was exposed to carbon tetrachloride and
proving it led to MSA is very challenging.
In
addition, it is difficult to get the federal government to work hard to find
their own records, which would confirm carbon tetrachloride usage.
“The
records, sometimes, are not available,” he said. “Compassion is not the law.”
Losing
three Veterans Affairs appeals essentially ends that part of the legal battle
and Wagner thinks a civil suit is unlikely b ecause of the costs involved and
the unlikely chance for success.
He
thinks a civil suit wou ld need experts, such as epidemiologists and
toxicologists, and cou ld cost up to $150,000.
The
best plan would be to find other people who worked alongside Wayne Collins and
can support the claim that he was around carbon tetrachloride. Another big help
would be to find people who suffered from MSA because of exposure to the
chemical.
Wagner
and Collins have been in touch with one former navy man who supports her claim
that carbon tetrachloride was used on ships.
Now
74, Ron Laronde lives near Saint Andrews, N.B.
He
was in the navy in the late ’50s and worked as a stoker in an engine room. He
contacted the Beaver Bank couple after seeing them on a television news show
once.
Back
in his navy days, he said one of his first duties in the morning was to grab a
scrub bucket, pour out a half gallon of solvent, take some scrubbing brushes
and go to work. He said he’d get the chemical all over his hands and breathed
it in without a second thought .
He’s
sure it was carbon tetrachloride. “They had a big sign right over the barrels.”
His
health isn’t very good, but he can’t be sure if it has anything to do with his
time in the navy. He went on to other seafaring work, much of which involved
the use of chemicals.
“We
had it in aerosol cans. We used to spray it for cleaning motors and things.”
Wayne
Collins, 69, on April 29, 2012, in the latter stages of Multiple System
Atrophy, an affliction similar to ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. ERIC WYNNE •
Staff
---------------------------
Wesboro Baptist Church with the fullblown hatred of military, gays and everybody... got new neighbours... by God's request
Canada's Black Battalion
God called the devil and said just this once... am passing along some worthless.... WESBORO BAPTIST CHURCH ARE THE JANE FONDA AND JOHN KERRY OF VIETNAM (by the by ... those 26 American troop prisoners that Jane laughed at has she hugged the VietCong monstere- never got 2 come home)..
PTSD
Our Peacekeepers.... hero and saviour of Rwanda- Romeo Dalllaire had 2 stand helplessly by whilst 800,000 innocents were butchered all around him... UN Rules of Engagement at the time???- unless they actually draw on u... u are NOT allowed 2 protect or draw ur weapon..... UN died 4 me that time... as did many politicans and world's media... shame... shame... shame- peacekeeping heroes we need 2 step up now and heal them...
UNITED NATIONS PROTECTS PRISONERS AND GIVES THEM EVERYTHING... but throws our Nato and UN Peacekeeping Vets out in the trash..... how about we give them 3 hots and a cot and a life???
CANADA'S MEMORIAL 2 SOLDIERS OF SUICIDE- we know u beloved are with God waiting 4 us - we love u so much.... and miss dearly
OUR VETS MATTER- DAMM IT!!!! All political parties in Canada- we are watching- shut up and work 2gether and fix this.... we are watching.... not our troops.... not our troops...
SOLDIERS OF SUICIDE CANADA- HONOURED..... thank u 4 protecting God till us tarnished angels get there...
We Remember- RCMP Mark Gallagher- UN Mission Haiti- Peace of Chris
There is no grief like the grief that does not speak
MILITARYMINDS.CA Stand by our troops and veterans please- Disbility- visible and invisible wear the souls of each of us under our Nato nations flags
Canada's
veterans charter failing disabled soldiers: ombudsman
CTV
National News: Veterans being left behind?
A
new report says the government is shortchanging veterans forced out of the
military by injuries. Katie Simpson explains.
Sonja
Puzic, CTVNews.ca Last Updated Tuesday,
October 1, 2013 11:07PM EDT
Canada’s
veterans ombudsman says current legislation is failing some of the most
severely wounded and disabled soldiers and the government must address its
“urgent shortcomings.”
On
Tuesday, Guy Parent released his report comparing the New Veterans Charter
enacted in 2006, with the old system of compensating veterans under the Pension
Act.
The
report highlights serious issues with the level of financial support given to
veterans, especially those who were permanently disabled in combat.
Master
Corporal Jody Mitic walks, on his 'running legs' past a fellow soldier, as he
prepares for a charity run in Toronto in this March 15, 2009 photo. (Chris
Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The
report found that hundreds of the most severely disabled veterans will take a
financial hit after they turn 65 because they do not have military pensions and
some of their charter benefits will end.
More
than half of veterans who are assessed as “totally and permanently
incapacitated” and can’t find work are not awarded impairment benefits.
“It
is simply not acceptable to let veterans who have sacrificed the most for their
country…live their lives with unmet financial needs,” the report says.
Benefits
that are supposed to help veterans transition from a military to a civilian
career, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, are also inadequate,
the report found.
In
Parent’s view, the legislation needs improvement in three key areas: financial,
vocational rehabilitation and family support.
“We
either deal with these issues now or we are going to have to deal with the cost
later,” he said at a news conference in Ottawa.
Later
Tuesday, Parent told CTV’s Power Play that among its many recommendations, his
report proposes options to bring a veteran’s income to about 70 per cent of his
or her pre-release salary, which is the general standard for most Canadians.
Parent
noted that injured veterans “are no longer employable because they are not
deployable,” and when they leave the forces they miss out on career advancement
opportunities, as well as the ability to plan for their futures.
“What
we’re saying is that, in fact, because there was a loss of opportunity to
prepare for their retirement years, that there is a debt owed to them by the
government to ensure that that is compensated for,” Parent said. “So we’re not
asking for more, we’re asking for at least the same opportunity.”
The
Royal Canadian Legion said it has been raising the same issues for years and
will “actively” push the government to immediately make changes to the veterans
charter.
The
Conservative government overhauled the charter in 2011 to include more money
for lost income replacements. Those changes will undergo a legislated review by
a parliamentary committee this fall.
Last
week, Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino announced that the government
will launch a “comprehensive” parliamentary review of the New Veterans Charter,
which will look at the entire legislation.
In
response to Parent’s report Tuesday, Fantino issued a statement saying the
government is “committed to taking a responsible approach in reviewing the
options to ensure veterans have the support they need, when they need it.”
Fantino’s
office said that “a number of improvements” have been made to the veterans
charter since 2006, including reduced wait times for services and the “Hire a
Veteran” program.
Parent
told Power Play that the charter “doesn’t need to be reviewed again.”
“All
of the pillars have been identified, so whoever is doing the review and however
it proceeds should take into consideration that that has already been done and
some of our recommendations were already contained in other reports that have
been produced over the years,” he said. “Review is enough. It’s time for
action.”
Veterans
advocate Sean Bruyea said that in his view, “a bureaucrat who never served in
uniform” will decide what a veteran needs.
“What’s
not happening, and what needs to happen, is we need Parliamentarians to get out
of Parliament, to get down from the Hill and go to communities big and small,
meet with veterans, meet with family members, ask them what they need,” Bruyea
told Power Play.
He
said that ultimately, soldiers face risks that civilians do not and their
compensation should reflect that.
“There’s
no other legal organization in this country that can order people into a
situation where they know there will be loss of life. Everything is done in all
other equivalent civilian organizations to avoid loss of life,” Bruyea said.
“They
have to be willing to not think about themselves, not think about their
families, and be willing to lose their life for Canadians. So that’s why
Canadians have a debt repayment to these people, because they’ve given so
much.”
The
New Democrats called on the Conservative government Tuesday to “immediately fix
the pressing problems” outlined in Parent’s report.
“The
government could easily fix many of these problems, for example by removing age
65 restriction on pension eligibility to give the veterans and their families
the dignity they deserve,” NDP’s veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer said in
a statement.
Liberal
veteran affairs critic Jim Karygiannis told CTVNews.ca that a charter review is
“long overdue” and that he welcomes the ombudsman’s report and comments.
“I’m
looking forward to working with the committee in order for us to come up with
solutions to the problems that I’ve been hearing from a lot of veterans,” he
said.
With
files from Andrea Janus
..
---------------------------
Warning
on veterans’ well-being
Compensation
must be improved or people will fall into pover ty, ombudsman says
THE
CANADIAN PRESS
O
T TAWA — The federal government must be prodded to continue making
improvements to its so-called veterans charter to ensure vulnerable former
soldiers aren’t left living in poverty, Canada’s veterans ombudsman said
Tuesday.
Guy
Parent’s long-awaited assessment of the government’s so-called veterans charter
found that veterans are receiving inadequate compensation from the government
for their pain and suffering .
Hundreds
of severely disabled veterans, in particular, will also take a financial hit
once they retire because some of their benefits will end and they don’t have
military pensions, Parent says in the report.
Veterans
Affairs Minister Julian Fantino has said the government will support a House of
Commons committee as it lo oks at how changes to the charter enacted in 2011
have affected those benefits.
But
additional changes are needed — and quickly, said Parent, who acknowledged
that both his own office and veterans organizations across Canada must compel
politicians to keep their promises to fix a broken system.
“We
have been working on the veterans charter improvements for many years and so
have many other veterans representative groups," he told a news conference
in Ottawa .
“What
is important here is to hold the parliamentarians to their promise when they
first introduced it, that there will be continuous improvement.
“And
it’s very hard to believe that statement when in fact for six years there was
nothing done about the charter."
The
ombudsman’s office carried out a detailed comparison of benefits and
entitlements under the new veterans charter and those from the old pension-forlife
system used since the end of the First World War.
The
Conservatives overhauled the charter in 2011 following complaints that it was
nowhere near as generous as the old system. Thos e enhancements, which included
more money to replace lost income, will be reviewed by MPs this fall.
A
review of Bill C-55, which enacted the enhancements made in 2011, is required
by legislation.
But
Fantino has already committed to a comprehensive review that will go beyond
what is required, said spokesman Joshua Zanin .
“The
report that has been put together by the ombudsman will specifically be used to
inform the broader review that the minister has called for."
Parent
dismissed the suggestion that improving benefits to veterans is a pricey
proposition.“The cost o f doing nothing now will have a humongous human cost
later on," he said.
Improving
disability awards to veterans would cost taxpayers about $70 million, said the
report.
In
addition , access to allowances and supplements for p ermanent impairments is
exp ected to run between $8 million and $10 million annually.
Concerns
about gaps in compensation payments for veterans are nothing new, and the
government has had ample time to correct the situation, said NDP defence
critic Jack Harris.
“It
should have and could have been done before," Harris said, adding that the
time for more review is over.
photo
Canada’s
Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent speaks after releasing the Report on the New
Veterans Char ter and Actuarial Analysis on Tuesday in Ottawa. ADRIAN WYLD •
-------------
Portraits
of Honour - honours our 158 fallen Canadian Forces soldiers, sailors and
aircrew
Portraits
of Honour pays respect to the 158 Canadian Forces troops who have lost their
lives while serving in Afghanistan. The Portraits of Honour hand-painted mural
will travel across Canada starting June 1, 2011. Portraits of Honour will
support the Military Families Fund as well as other charities that support
military families and personnel. For more information or to support our troops,
visit www.portraitsofhonour.ca
or call 1-888-9-HONOUR
COMMENT:
you
guys are amazing thank you Pte. John Curwin is? my cousin and today marks 4
years hes been gone this is the first time i watched this and im in tears and i
thank you word cant describe how thankful i am
---------------
Efforts
to teach Afghanistan troops to read may be NATO’s lasting legacy
Published:
October 1, 2013
By
Jay Price — McClatchy Foreign Staff
DARLAMAN
TRAINING BASE, Afghanistan — As it prepares to start its fifth and final year,
the NATO-led $200 million literacy program for the Afghan national security
forces quietly has created what is likely to be one of the most important
legacies that the international military coalition will leave behind: tens of
thousands of previously illiterate Afghans who can now read.
Its
very success, literacy experts say, has created another need: reading material
for the thousands of young recruits who complete the training each month so
they can keep their precious new skills from eroding.
“Without
practice they will quickly lose the skill that they have acquired, and all will
be wasted,” said Nancy Hatch Dupree, who has been involved in literacy efforts
across Afghanistan for the last 20 years. “This is what happens in most of the
adult literacy programs on which millions of dollars are being spent.”
“Much
idle time for all army and police groups could be filled with enjoyable reading
of books in simple, easy-to-read language,” she said.
Illiteracy
is a staggering problem in Afghanistan, where decades of war and disruptions in
public education left only about 28 percent of adults able to read and write as
of 2009, though NATO officers believe the number as improved at least modestly
since then. Illiteracy among Afghans of military age was a major hurdle as the NATO-led
coalition began working with the Afghan government to expand the country’s army
and police forces. Recruits couldn’t follow basic written instructions, much
less read instruction manuals for new weapons and equipment. So NATO set up a
course to teach basic reading skills.
So
far more than 220,000 members of the Afghan national army and police have been
trained in basic reading, and more than 70,000 have achieved a level that made
them functionally literate. About 50,000 more are in the program’s classes now.
Literacy
instruction is expected to continue as a permanent part of training, with the
Afghan government taking over the funding after NATO’s involvement stops late
next year, said Lt. Col. Tim J. Isberg of the Canadian army, who is chief of
NATO’s literacy and language division here.
The
program’s final year in many ways should be its biggest, he said. In part
that’s because Afghanistan’s security forces have finally reached full
strength. Previously, commanders who’ve been under pressure to get troops in
the field had been prone to send out recruits before they had completed the
first of the literacy training’s three phases of literacy training.
With
the security forces now at full strength, the pressure to get men into the
field has slackened. “And this means that programs are easier to run, that the
pace is a little more reasonable at the training centers,” Isberg said.
Still,
some Afghan commanders question the value of teaching literacy, Isberg said.
Some say it encourages young soldiers to desert and go find a job with their
new skills. Others simply believe the soldiers need to be fighting, not in
class.
Isberg,
however, sees every literate soldier as an asset, even those who leave the
military. “They are still a literate citizen in Afghanistan that wasn’t there
before, and that helps build the capacity of the nation,” he said. “Any solider
is eventually a literate Afghan citizen, and a more discerning Afghan citizen.”
Improving
literacy has implications not only for jobs and the economy, but for freeing
villagers from the sway of radical imams who in areas dominated by insurgents
often are a main source of information about how the world works.
“When
the people are not literate, anybody can misguide them,” said Ghulam Sakhi
Omari, a teacher at the Darlaman Literacy Center. “They can be persuaded to do
anything for the money because they can’t distinguish between good and bad and
think that if anybody who has learning tells them something that it must surely
be right.”
In
2001, fewer than 1 million Afghan children were estimated to be enrolled in
school, according to the Brookings Institution’s Afghanistan index. By 2011,
more than 8 million were enrolled – a statistic that promises major improvement
in the country’s literacy. Adult literacy is also a focus. All told, more than
700,000 adults are enrolled in literacy programs across Afghanistan, according
to the Ministry of Education.
The
effects of more schooling are showing up in the recruits, said U.S. Air Force
Maj. Carol Marrujo, who until this past summer was chief of literacy operations
for NATO in Afghanistan. In 2010, only about 10 percent of recruits could read;
now it’s 15 percent, she said.
Still,
the problem of illiteracy is far from solved, and Dupree said that it’s
impossible to do it properly without giving people material to read that keeps
them reading.
Dupree
founded the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University, which contains a collection
of 80,000 documents that essentially contain the story of the nation’s modern
history. The center also runs a program that distributes small “libraries in a
box” throughout the country, nearly 250,000 volumes to date. It buys some of
the books, but it also has commissioned 124 titles that are short and aimed at
newly literate readers.
She
has been trying to convince coalition leaders of the importance of a follow-on
program that would provide the security forces with books.
It’s
a smart idea to pursue, said David Rosen, a former director of the Adult
Literacy Resource Institute at the University of Massachusetts who now runs
Newsome Associates, an international education consulting company.
“I
think what she’s saying is absolutely correct,” he said. “The most important
thing once you learn to read is to have what many people call a culture of
reading, and the more written material people have in their hands, the more
they are likely to continue reading and not lose that skill.”
On
a recent day at the Darlaman Literacy Center – for now a bunch of dimly lit
former barracks, but a new building is on the way – Omari, the teacher, pointed
to letters on a whiteboard and helped the rest of the class string them into
syllables, then build the syllables into simple words.
As
he taught, one student, 18-year-old Nizammuddin, paused to tell a visitor what
learning to read meant.
Nizammuddin,
a recruit from rural Kunduz province who like many Afghans goes by one name,
said that his new skills would help him read instructions for his weapons and
equipment and signs on base. He said he looked forward to writing his family
letters. Then he gave a glimpse deep into the potential of the NATO program’s
legacy.
“It
is not just for me,” he said. “I want to get literate myself and teach this to
my brothers who are also illiterate and to my friends with the same problem.”
About
his future after the army? “I simply want to be a teacher,” he said.
Email:
jayprice@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @jayinkabul
-----------
Wounded
Soldiers from Around the World Board Rocky Mountaineer for a Life Changing Trip
VANCOUVER,
BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 1, 2013) -
Editors
Note: A photo for this release is available on the Canadian Press picture wire
via Marketwired.
Five
wounded soldiers/veterans and their families from Canada, the United States,
Australia and the United Kingdom, boarded the inaugural journey of Rocky
Mountaineer's annual Life Changing Train for Heroes this morning.
Over
600 attendees, including guests, Rocky Mountaineer employees and partners,
celebrated the launch of the program and honoured the deserving heroes with a
special ceremony just before the train pulled out of the station for an
inspiring journey through BC and the Canadian Rockies.
Two
Canadian soldiers (John Lowe from Cloverdale, BC and Paul Bornn from Ottawa,
Ontario) are taking part in the Life Changing Train for Heroes journey.
The
soldiers and their families were led to the Rocky Mountaineer station by a
Vancouver Police Department escort, before being received by members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, dressed in their famous Red Serge. After an
emotional presentation led by Rocky Mountaineer President and CEO Randy Powell,
and a tribute to the heroes, the wounded soldiers/veterans and their families
boarded the train and took part in a historic "all aboard call."
About
the Life Changing Train for Heroes
The
Life Changing Train for Heroes is an annual program that recognizes and honours
individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact on the lives
of others. To celebrate the chosen heroes, Rocky Mountaineer will be taking
them on a rail journey through Western Canada. The new initiative will provide
inspiration to those who have selflessly given so much to help others as well
as the families who supported them along the way. It will also raise awareness
for the organizations that continue to provide assistance and encouragement.
This
year, Rocky Mountaineer has partnered with organizations from all over the
world that are dedicated to helping and supporting wounded soldiers/veterans.
The heroes arrived in Vancouver on September 30 and will travel onboard the
Rocky Mountaineer through BC and the Canadian Rockies with an overnight stop in
Kamloops, BC. The trip ends in Lake Louise, Alberta on October 3, 2013.
For
more information on Rocky Mountaineer's Life Changing Train for Heroes, please
visit www.rockymountaineer.com/heroes.
To learn more about our heroes and follow them on their life changing journey,
go to @rmountaineer on Twitter and use #HeroesTrain. You may also become a fan
on Facebook at Rocky Mountaineer or for our latest videos, go to our YouTube
channel at rmountaineertrain.
About
Rocky Mountaineer:
Rocky
Mountaineer offers over 45 vacation packages and five unique rail routes, rich
in history and natural wonders, through the Pacific Northwest and Alberta. This
world-renowned, luxurious train travels by daylight through the wild beauty of
Canada's West and is considered by many as the only way to experience the
majestic Canadian Rockies. Since its inception in 1990, the company has grown
to become the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America
and has welcomed more than one and a half million guests from around the world.
Rocky Mountaineer has received numerous international awards and accolades for
service excellence. Most recently, the company received its seventh World
Travel Award as, "World's Leading Travel Experience By Train" and has
been recognized by National Geographic as one of the "World's Greatest
Trips."
-------------------
A
few hours of mud and pain to help our vets
Standard
reporter Grant LaFleche
By
Grant LaFleche, The Standard
Tuesday, October 1, 2013 7:16:26 EDT PM
Tough
Mudders help reporter Grant LaFleche (in blue shirt and red shorts) get to the
top of the obstacle known as Everest. Photo special to The Standard by Ryan
Hewko.
Niagara's
Mudder League of Justice at Tough Mudder Toronto on Saturday in Barrie.¶From
left: Laura Ip (Batwoman), Cheryl Deforge Davidson (Wonder Woman), Brady Wood
(Zod, in black) and Grant LaFleche (Superman)¶Photos special to the Standard by
Ryan Hewko.
Standard
reporter Grant LaFleche, (in Superman shirt) joins other Tough Mudders atop the
obstacle called Everest. Photo special to the Standard by Ryan Hewko.
Grant
LaFleche, left and Brady Wood after finishing Tough Mudder Toronto in Barrie on
Saturday. PHoto special to the Standard by Ryan Hewko.
Tough
Mudder 2013
Sometimes
a little bit of pain can go a long way.
As
I type this, my leg muscles are in their third day of total rebellion, making
me suffer for every step I take. The scratches and bruises on my arms are deep
enough to make it appear as though I fought off an angry badger — or at least
an annoyed house cat. The rest of my body occasionally sends messages to my
brain that read simply: “What in the name of Hades is WRONG with you.”
Such
is the condition of most who have completed a Tough Mudder course. Saturday was
my second run through the gruelling granddaddy of the now popular “extreme”
obstacle runs. Taking place in Barrie, it was a delightful 18 kilometres of
being ground down by merciless obstacles, shocked by electricity, frozen in icy
water and, of course, given the mother of all mud baths. An estimated 15,000 to
20,000 people took part over two days.
Most
stories you will hear from Mudders are about personal achievement. And there is
a reason for that. It is an incredible challenge and when after chanting
“Hoo-rah!” so often your voice goes hoarse and you cross the finish line, there
is an undeniable sense that if you could get through that three or four hours
of hell, there isn’t much you cannot do.
But
there is a bigger and more important reason to do it. Putting yourself through
Tough Mudder can help a member of the Canadian Armed Forces in need.
The
four Canadian iterations of the Tough Mudder — a 16- to 20-km military-style
obstacle course — directly support Wounded Warriors Canada, a charity that
helps military personnel who are transitioning to civilian life because of
mental or physical injury.
Scott
Maxwell, the executive director of Wounded Warriors, told me while there are
government programs to assist injured military personnel, gaps exist. Canada
does a great job of honouring our soldiers, he said, but doesn’t do so well
when it comes to taking care of them when their service to the nation is
finished.
Wounded
Warriors has helped more than 1,000 military personnel since 2006— from
assisting homeless veterans to helping those with disabilities — and relies
totally on fundraising to run its programs nationwide.
Tough
Mudder, through its participants, now provides $150,000 in funding to Wounded
Warriors annually, Maxwell said.
“It’s
critical funding because we don’t want to provide spotty programing. This is
consistent funding, which is so important,” he says.
That
$150,000 might not seem like a lot of money when compared to other charities.
Local events, like the Big Move Cancer Ride, raised more than $400,000 this
year alone. Which, I think, says something about what we consider important,
and what we do not.
Don’t
get me wrong, raising money for cancer care is critically important. In fact,
you can rattle off a list of causes that deserve more of our attention and
money than they get. But it seems to me that helping those who served the
nation is a special obligation we, as citizens, should take seriously.
That
might seem self-evident, but it is an uphill climb.
It’s
hard enough to get the public interested in supporting soldiers who bear
physical injuries from their service, Maxwell said. But drumming up support for
those whose scars cannot be seen, who suffer from mental illness, is even more
challenging.
“Because
there, you have to deal with the stigma that comes with mental health issues,”
Maxwell said.
There
is a visceral personal challenge to Tough Mudder, one that takes months of
training to prepare for. It is, in retrospect, a little crazy. You are going to
suffer to cross that finish line. But those few hours of self-inflicted torture
and a few more days of after-Mudder muscle pain are really nothing compared to
the kind of pain the men and women of the military can experience.
So
if you have never considered taking part in Tough Mudder because it seems like
a lunatic’s event, or you feel like you can’t do it, or like it’s too much
commitment, consider that by taking part you can really help someone you don’t
know, that you’ll probably never know, who once put on a uniform for your sake.
Can
I get a “Hoo-rah” for that?
grant.lafleche@sunmedia.ca
Wounded
Warriors Canada: www.woundedwarriors.ca
Tough
Mudder: www.toughmudder.com
-------------------
Canadian
Forces Museum of Aerospace Defence launches virtual exhibit
Tuesday,
October 01, 2013 by: Kate Adams22
Wing/Canadian Forces Base North Bay
News
Release
On
October 1, 1963, the Underground Complex (UGC), more commonly known as The
Hole, was declared officially operational. The UGC was the home of Canadian air
defence for 43 years as it operated non-stop from 1963 until 2006.
Today,
on the 50th anniversary of the UGC’s opening, the Canadian Forces Museum of
Aerospace Defence is pleased to announce the launch of a new virtual exhibit
project. “UGC50” is an online collection of historical photographs and images
of artifacts that explore the history of the underground facility more deeply
than has ever been done before.
The
project is also participatory – everyone is encouraged to add their personal
memories of the UGC using contact forms on the site. These valuable stories and
memories will be updated online for a full year and all will become a part of
the museum’s collection on the UGC.
The
virtual exhibit is available now at www.UGC50.com . Check back often to see the
updated stories and photographs as our collection grows.
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