LETTERS

Mefloquine should be banned

Iam glad to see that in the January/February issue of Legion Magazine, The Royal Canadian Legion is pressuring the Canadian Armed

Forces and the Department of National

Defence to discontinue the use of the mefloquine anti-malarial prophylaxis (Editorial). As a veteran of Operation

Deliverance in Somalia, and having taken the drug, I agree that it should be banned. However, I also take offence to describing the deployment to Somalia as “illfated” in your editorial. This mission was far from that and there was an extraordinary amount of great humanitarian work that was completed in those six months! Please refrain from using the term “illfated” as it puts a negative connotation on more than 1,300 soldiers, sailors and airmen and airwomen who served honourably in that theatre.

SHANNON MATECHUK, EDGERTON, ALTA.

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Five battles appreciated

Thank you to J.L. Granatstein for the article “Five Battles that Shaped Canada.” As a teacher of Canadian history, I found it provided a valuable resource to help students understand and analyze the impact of stories of sacrifice from our past.

Granatstein’s assessment of Canal du Nord highlights the planning and strategy of Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie. Currie wrote as he was preparing for the attack on Vimy Ridge, “Neglect nothing.”

The assessment of Canal du Nord should not neglect MajorGeneral William Bethune Lindsay. Lindsay was the chief engineer of the Canadian Expeditionary Force from 1916, and therefore was key to the success at Canal du Nord and many battles as the war came to an end. Currie noted that the engineers were a critical component of Canada’s success.

Another interesting part of the story is that both Currie and Lindsay were from the same small southwestern Ontario town: Strathroy. They attended the same high school. It is interesting how two men from the same town helped to shape Canada on a canal in northern France.

BRIAN ANDERSON, STRATHROY, ONT.

I read with great interest the story of Canada’s five greatest battles by esteemed author J.L. Granatstein but I must disagree with some of his comments about Kandahar and Panjwaii. He states that Canadian soldiers had not fought against a formed enemy force since 1953, when, in fact, in trying to stem the ethnic cleansing taking place against the Serbian civilians, the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, fought and held their position against a superior Croatian military force in the Medak Pocket in 1993 in the former Yugoslavia.

Like other actions having taken place in “peacekeeping,” this battle was downplayed by the government of the day because, as Granatstein commented in another article, “Canadians assume there are no dead in peacekeeping and that is why they like it.”

I must also comment on the “Can’tbat” reference and the subtle suggestion that soldiers who served after the Korean War until the war in Afghanistan were less combat capable. That is entirely on the shoulders of the successive governments of that era, not on the individual soldiers of those generations.

The soldiers, in spite of the total lack of support from the government, handcuffed by ridiculous rules of engagement written by staff officers in Ottawa, still managed to complete their missions and duties while in many cases outgunned, poorly equipped and virtually forgotten at home.

One only needs to look at the example of the Airborne Regiment at Nicosia airport in Cyprus in 1974. As other nations’ U.N. troops were withdrawing across the island, the Turks advanced on the airport, intent on seizing it. The Canadian commander who was ordered to hold his position lest the city of Nicosia fall into Turkish hands drew a line on the road and told the Turks that should they advance past that line, the Canadians would open fire. After a tense standoff, the Turks stood down. Lightly armed and outnumbered, the Canadians accomplished their mission.

BARRY ARCH, BOTWOOD, N.L.

Commemorative medals serve a purpose

In 1967, the Canadian government issued the Canadian Centennial Medal to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. It was awarded to Canadians who were recommended by the government and associations for having provided valuable service to this country.

Similar medals have been issued in 1977, 1992, 2002 and 2012 (Letters, September/ October). Each of these commemorative medals was struck to recognize service to Canada by Canadians on the anniversary of our confederation in 1867.

Have Canadians stopped providing valuable service to Canada or ceased to support the government in strategic or financial commitments around the world or have they forgotten our history? The answer to that is a resounding NO! 2017 is the 150th anniversary of Confederation and also the 100th anniversary of the victory at Vimy Ridge in the First World War. Why would the Minister of Canadian Heritage decide that the year 2017 is the year to cease recognition of the contributions of all Canadians to maintain peace and prosperity in the world and to suddenly stop recognizing the traditional 25-year anniversary commemoration of Confederation?

TED WHAN, OSHAWA, ONT. L

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending for Legion Magazine

@onepageeveryday Tweeted: Hello @rickmercer. Writing the introduction to 150 years of Canada in @Legion_Magazine couldn’t have been easy, but you nailed it. Kudos.

@UBC New @Legion_Magazine documentary on Japanese Canadian Internment featuring images from @UBCArchives. (Military Moments: Japanese Canadian Internment YouTube.)

@HCameron0126 (Winner of Legion Magazine’s draw for those subscribing for five or more years) Thanks @Legion_ Magazine! So excited to receive our new iPad! @RemingtonNevin Thank you to the @RoyalCdnLegion and @Legion_Magazine for wisely calling for a stop to the use of mefloquine among @CanadianForces personnel. (Editorial: Use of anti-malarial drug needs to stop.)

@TheRCAMuseum Quality text, illustrations and photos. An excellent summary. (On the Battle of the Somme Special Issue.)

Gilles Belisles A thought for our comrades who are deployed. Your officer of mutual aid. Travis Locey The past can’t be changed, but we can certainly learn from it. (Comment on Military Moments: Japanese Canadian Internment YouTube.)

S.A. Norton Sorry, but until the Japanese admit the atrocities they did, the slave labour and starvation, and the immoral treatment of Canadian PoWs taken at Hong Kong, I feel that remembering their “injustices” is a slap in the face to Canadian veterans. (E-mail on Military Moments: Japanese Canadian Internment YouTube.)

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