Canada’s Role in Providing Aid

So our main purpose was to lend aid to the civilian population. We would take convoys of food that was supplied by the, some of the world health organizations. If you gave to CARE or you gave to Red Cross or you gave money, this is where the, this food and supplies went. And we guarded that material from the time it landed at the dock. It was looked after and until it was given out to the people of the certain villages. We would usually have to stay around until it was distributed to the local villagers because there would be clans people come in and take it right out of their hands or break into the storage area and take that away and the villagers would be left with nothing. So these are people doing this to their own people.

Mr. Campbell explains the role of the Canadian military during a tour in Somalia.

Robert Campbell

Mr. Campbell was born in May of 1956 in Elmsdale, Prince Edward Island. At age 10, his father decided to move their family to the farming community of Alberton. With the desire for something better to do in life, Mr. Campbell left the farm life and joined the military. In April 1975 he joined the Canadian Forces and trained in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. He then travelled to Borden, Ontario to complete his technician training which resulted in a military career as a mechanic. In 1992, Mr. Campbell joined the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Regiment and stayed with that unit for four years. During this time, he served in Germany and Holland. Mr. Campbell was later posted to Petawawa and became a member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, with deployments in the Golan Heights and Somalia. During his mission in Somalia, Mr. Campbell was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. In 1997, he returned to Petawawa, Ontario and was medically discharged from the Canadian Forces. Mr. Campbell and his family moved back to Prince Edward Island where he worked with Veterans Affairs Canada.