Gandy remembers Afghanistan

Arh-wooooooo! All this travel across our great nation made me a bit lonesome for my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Remembrance Clubhouse friends agreed we should also visit “The Rock.” We took the ferry to Channel-Port aux Basques and learned that this fishing port used to be at one end of the Newfoundland Railway. During the First and Second World Wars, the train played an important role in transporting troops and military supplies all the way to the capital city of St. John’s.

The train no longer runs on the island of Newfoundland so we travelled by bus to Corner Brook to see a cool monument I had heard about. A life-size bronze statue of a Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldier on patrol in Afghanistan was unveiled in front of the town hall in 2012. As I looked down at the soldier’s feet and saw the sculpted forget-me-not flowers, I felt sad. I thought of the some 158 Canadians who died during our country’s mission there between 2001 and 2014. It also made me think of the brave service men and women who continue to put their lives on the line in different parts of the world today. I am so grateful to live in a peaceful country like Canada!