An opening of one's knowledge,capabilities, vision and guidance. The Kenaz is about creating a relationship,learning and allowing room for interpretation. When you are in the darkness,an opening with light is the best and most gracious thing to have bestowed upon you. This is a great time for putting energies into new opportunities. Come share my world as I see it.
I found this fitting song composed by MacPhee, Schram, Howe in my files simply entitled "Ode To The Canadian Soldier "and uploaded to imeem. Please give a listen. The lyrics pay tribute to the men and women who are "Fighting for freedom and staying the course.
"Christmas has finally come and our soldier isn't home," Jill Kruse wrote only days ago. "And for some families, they won't have their soldiers sit at their table for Christmas dinner again."
Two Canadian soldiers killed this weekend in Afghanistan are on their way home, after a solemn twilight ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield Sunday evening.
A lone bagpiper played as the caskets of Warrant Officer Gaetan Joseph Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were loaded onto a military aircraft.
Roberge and Kruse were killed Saturday after a bomb exploded while the two soldiers were on security patrol about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
An Afghan policeman and interpreter were also killed in the blast, while three Canadian soldiers and a second interpreter were injured.
The soldiers had been on a security patrol in the volatile Panjwaii district, where Canadian troops have repeatedly fought against Taliban gunmen.
Roberge, was a member of the Royal 22nd Regiment who was serving with the Irish Regiment of Canada in Sudbury, Ont. He was serving in Afghanistan to help train the country's national police force.
Kruse was from the 24 Field Squadron, 2 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont. He was serving as a member of 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group.
Capt. Shane Gapp described Roberge as someone with a good sense of humour, and who earned the respect and admiration of his colleagues.
"His men loved him. He loved his men. You could count on him at any point in time to do anything," Gapp said.
Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, the head of Canadian and NATO forces in Kandahar, said in a statement that there were no words to describe the emotional impact such deaths have on soldiers.
"Every one of our soldiers is very dear to us. They are our friends and our brothers."
He added that Canadian soldiers "also grieve for our Afghan brothers with whom we have been working side by side to help make their country more secure and stable."
Warrant Officer Gaeten Joseph Roberge was killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 27, 2008.
Sgt. Greg John Kruse was killed Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008 while on patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province.
Along with one diplomat and two aid workers, 106 Canadian soldiers have now died in the war-torn country since 2002.
