A Very Different Culture

Heroes Remember

A Very Different Culture

Transcript

Well when you first get to Bosnia you are on the plane, you’re all hyped up, you’re ready to do what you’re there for. By the time you get there you’re so tired from flying all night and you arrive first thing in the morning. The major city we land in, you land in the plane and all you see are tanks lining the runway, MIG jets are blown off, off to the side of the runway and you suddenly realize where you are. You left a nice city of Edmonton where it’s all nice and clean and everything and you arrive there, everything is roof topped, is red, there’s holes in the walls. On your way down to your base all..., alongside the roads, all the houses have either blown all to pieces, or on fire, there are holes along the wall where you can see where tanks and stuff have driven along and just put bullet holes in everyone's windows. There’s nobody out on the streets, like we see people walking around the streets here, there we are driving down there at eight or nine in the morning and there’s no one around. So that was a bit of a culture shock and just to see that state of people's homes like nothing what we are used to living like here in Canada. Brick buildings half built and you talk to them later and you find out they lived in that forever, it’s not like something they just built last week or something and just the general state to their homes and everything else but that’s the way they have lived for years.

Description

Mr. Williams describes the sights and the differences in culture when arriving in Bosnia, almost a state of disbelief in what we as Canadians are used to.

Andy Williams

Mr. Williams was born June 24, 1964 in Trenton, Ontario. His father being in the Air Force, Mr. Williams had the strong desire to join, however, when his time came, the decision for service would be army and began his training career as an army medic. In 1985 he joined as a reservist and spent 25 years with the Regular Force. In 1997, Mr. Williams was deployed to Bosnia with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Royal Canadians holding rank of master corporal. Another opportunity for a posting was exercised in 1998 when he deployed to Kosovo, this time with the 1 Service Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment. Mr. William’s army career as a medic took him to many In-Canada posting serving with the Canadian military and upon retirement resides in Berwick, Nova Scotia with his wife and family.

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