"We talked about simple things, but when you are half way across
the world it means so much more to you."
"For some people our veterans are remembered only once a year on November
11th. We bow our heads for two minutes and then Christmas decorations come out
and we are forgotten again for another 364 days," said Jeff Gravel. "Remembrance
Day is every day for me."
Gravel, 40, was a Sergeant in the Canadian armed forces in Bosnia and
Afghanistan. He served as an infantryman throughout both wars. Although
Canada was in Bosnia for a year in 1991 for peacekeeping operations, and in
Afghanistan for nearly 13 years in a combat role, both conflicts have had a major
impact on his life. Afghanistan in particular has left him with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder or PTSD.
In 2001 Gravel was posted in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban.
His orders were simple - protect the locals from attack and hand out toys to
children.
"We did more winning of wars through hearts and minds than shooting
people," said Gravel. "You don't want to kill people but sometimes it takes good
guys with guns to stop the bad ones.I can never go back to that."
Throughout Gravel's deployment in Afghanistan, it was the Windsor
community and his brothers in arms that helped him make it through each day. He
would receive updates on what was going on in the