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Last Letter From Bosnia
(including Great Homes of
Alberta)
14 April, 1998
Consider yourself fortunate that I decided to write one more time. Now that I
am back in Canada and back to the usual grind you may hear from me once a year
or so. I am currently using up what remains of my Holidays for the year (Our
year ends 31 Mar). I last left you hanging when I had just returned home from
leave in October.
After going back to Bosnia for the fourth time in less than a year (back and
forth for reconnaissance deployment and leave) I returned to my Sea Can. There
waiting was the Deputy Commanding Officer. He said don’t unpack you’re
leaving. Later that week I was back on the plane heading to Pettawawa Ontario to
assess the confirmatory exercise for the guys from 2 Brigade for two weeks. This
turned out to be a lot of fun as I was able to see many friends and colleagues
in Ontario that I had not seen in a long time. The exercise itself was also well
done and generally a good concept. Unlike our training, which was a long time in
the field, they spread theirs out and condensed the field portion so one spent
fewer days away from home. The final Ex was in the Owen Sound area where they
deployed to the towns and set up in old factories. This was far more realistic.
As my time in Ontario drew to a close I could feel the jet lag setting in.
It was close to the end of November when I returned to Bosnia. The travel
back and forth was becoming brutal. Never take the Air Canada flight from
Toronto to Frankfurt, as you would have a better flight in a Cattle Car. The
airline staff on this flight was also something unique. They must have been on
the first Aircraft when Air Canada was formed. I thought there was a mandatory
retirement age. They made my parents look young. This was in far contrast to the
Air Canada flight I had from London, which was in a new Airbus with very
friendly staff. Oddly enough and I hate to say this but the best all round
flights have been the Military Service Air flights. The military has the new
Airbus but they are configured for cargo, tankers and one VIP plane. This means
that when they carry army passengers, who have far more kit than the usual
tourist, they have reduced the number of seats to carry more cargo. The result
is everyone has a great seat with a lot of room. On returning to Bosnia I
decided I was going to try a different tactic to the Jet Lag. Jet Lag is not the
same as doing a night shift or starting your day really early. Traveling eight
time zones away totally screws up your system for a week. In fact day three is
about the worst and its like you have the flu. Many say when you arrive try and
stay up until 9 or 10 then get full nights rest. This does not work because your
system says get up at 2am so I tried something different. After I arrived when I
got tired I went to bed and yes I was up a 2am so I went to work. The next day I
was up at 4am and did the same. By day three I was back on schedule without the
ill effects.
Being back in Bosnia in December was rather harsh from the boredom and
homesick point of view. Some aspects were nice in a way, as there was no
Christmas hype or shopping to worry about. The Bosnian Muslims do not celebrate
Christmas but the signs were there when I left Ontario and in nearby Croatia.
Even though there was a mail strike your mail made it and our E-Mail system
improved so I was able to stay in contact with many of you. I must also make
special mention to those who sent me gifts as it was most appreciated. Thank you
Don Fast and family for the assorted sours and other stuff. I purposely left the
box on my desk unopened for awhile. This caused extreme frustration, jealousy
and anticipation amongst those I work with. As with all care packages we share.
I also want to make special mention to Dave, Connie Faas and family and Robet
and Pat Carey from Wainwright, opening that package was Christmas as it had
everything. I also thank my more immediate family, my Parents, sisters and
brother for their letters and gifts and to my Mother, Father and Sister in Law
for their letters and gifts. E-Mail became a big hit, I had not seen or heard
from some of my cousins on the Winkelmans side in many years or from my inlaws
in Ontario and now we were maintaining a regular dialog. For those not on E-Mail
the letters were great. For those who have just entered the net our E-Mail
address is cwink@telusplanet.net.
December in Bosnia was extremely dull and dreary it was foggy and rainy every
day with the odd day of snow. One bright spot was my R&R trip to Budapest
Hungary. This was a fairly free and open city. The average person in Hungary
only makes about $7,000 a year but the city was a much greater mix of more
modern Western style buildings and companies than other East European cities.
Hungary has a deep history and has been conquered by just about everyone. Some
of the big names include the Mongolian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman
Empire and the world wars. Oddly enough they actually won a few. The First World
War even though they were caught off guard they achieved all their objectives
against the Serbs and the Russians but because they were on the wrong side they
had to capitulate to the allies. The Hungarians hate communism, which is the
reason they joined with the Germans in WWII. This obviously did not help but
when the Soviet Empire broke up in 1990 the Hungarians were instantly ready to
adopt a democratic society. One thing I was most impressed with the city was the
transit system. They had three Subways, Above ground rapid transit and tram
system and of course bussing. There was also very little wait and you could get
anywhere. Many of our cities could learn a lesson here as the transit system was
more convenient than using your car. To go to Budapest I decided to take the
train. This was so cliché. We stopped at the Hungary and Bosnia border and of
course the customs and ticket people come on board. It was right out of a James
Bond movie. The old buildings, the communist system and outdated industry make
everything Grey and dirty looking. Budapest was definitely a tourist experience
and the four days we had of R&R was not enough for this city.
Christmas was uneventful. We gave the soldiers the day off so I did guard duty
at the gate plus extra shifts in the command post. New Years was a little
different. On New Years Eve we had the brother of one of our officers come to
entertain us. He is a well-known jazz musician in Europe. New Years also
represented the start of the Muslim Holiday season so all the weapons we had not
seen on the street were out atmidnight firing tracer rounds in the sky. It
looked like Baghdad at the start of the Persian Gulf war. After about half an
hour the explosions and light show stopped and I went to bed. The next day was
our annual Thunder Mug competition where the officers play the senior NCOs in a
number of sports. Things started off well as we won both the pistol and archery
competitions. Then game the bucket ball competition, which is kind of a cross
between rugby and basketball. It is full contact and very violent and it got a
little out of hand. About two thirds of the way through the game I was tackled
while jumping for the ball and hit the floor hard breaking my wrist. At the time
I did not know my wrist was broken. I thought I sprained it so I continued to
play dishing out some of what I received. After the game I got a wrist brace and
tapped up my hand and played volleyball and hockey. The pain began to set in
that evening, as I was unable to shuffle the cards even during the evening
events. The next day I decided to see the doctor about my wrist. She had a look
at it and sent me to the cripple bus with the other casualties from the previous
day to get X-rays done at the Canadian Advanced Surgical Hospital, which was
just down the road from us. As it turned out I seriously broke my wrist and
would be in a cast for two months minimum. There was also a 30% chance the bone
would not heal with this type of injury and most have a problem for a year.
Needless to say I was not amused so I came back in a cast. Fortunately I had my
cast off at the beginning of March and the bone had healed and now I virtually
have full use of my wrist back.
January was redeployment month. The Battle group departs first and we were last
out towards the end of January. With less than two weeks to go we were tasked to
pickup some trucks in Austria. The Commanding Officer selected me to lead the
team to get the vehicles. This was a pleasant surprise and was like a paid
R&R. The travel however, was slow. The factory was in Steyr Austria.
Crossing the border from Slovenia to Austria was a welcome change. Suddenly
everything looked civilized. Even though it was only about 500km away it took a
long time to get there. We had to cross four borders and it seemed just as you
got going there was another tollbooth alone the autobahn. Crossing borders where
countries had been near or recently at war with a military convoy can be a
unique experience. I got a little fed up on the way back at the Slovenia border
where our convoy had been stopped and where they had also halted two of our
tanks that were being transported by commercial carrier that had been there for
two days. I finally told the supervisor I was about as high a ranking Canadian
he would ever get and that he had about fifteen minutes to let us pass or we go
anyway. For some reason the east Europeans like to do a lot of posturing and
after being there for 6 months you can get sick of it after awhile. They let us
through shortly thereafter without incident. Back to Austria the town of Steyr
was great and the company looked after us very well. I didn’t even realize
that Steyr trucks are recently a Canadian Company. If I am in Europe again
Austria will definitely be on my place to visit list. The people were friendly
and the Canadian dollar had good value.
I returned home on 21 Jan and I did not go to Montreal for the Ice storm
although most of those who were in Edmonton but not in Bosnia did. On returning
home Cathy and I decided to go for a Sunday drive and we saw an open house sign
and decided to look in. Later that day we wrote an offer on the 2700 sqft home
on five acres that is closer to the base than I am now. It is now the end of
March and we are still in the process of closing the deal. The owners are going
through a divorce and the house even though is only seven years old has a few
problems and has been suffering from neglect for a few years. We are getting
close as our house is virtually sold with only a few lesser conditions remaining
and the same on the house we are buying so its still wait and see.
THE CHOUINARD
Nestled on 56 Acres, this 2500 sq foot log home near Whitecourt features 20
foot ceilings, a huge master bedroom and in floor heating. The view from the
dining room offers the tranquility of the nearby ravine and creek.
THE TESCHL
This 3200 sq foot home on 3 Acres at the southern edge of Calgary offers
Cascading gardens and a majestic view. The huge kitchen and vaulted ceiling
living room are but just a few of the many features of this fine home.
 THE
WINKELMANS (Pending)
Located on 5 acres on the northern edge of Edmonton this home features 2700
sq ft of living. A four-person hot tub off the master bedroom and 5 bedrooms are
but a few of the features of this fine home.
 THE
FAAS
This unique 2200 sq foot lakeside cabin offers year round recreation and fun.
Located only minutes east of Wainwright in central Alberta, this cottage offers
a feature fire place in a living room with vaulted ceiling, a huge covered deck
and a garage to park your boat.
Pictures were unavailable at the time of printing for The Carey
located near Wainwright and The Fast located in Medicine Hat. All
the above homes are within 20 minutes from work (Why we live in Alberta)
I had the month of February off but did not do much basically get to know the
family again. The kids are doing well Bryn is playing hockey again this year and
his team made it to the finals. This was interesting as they had lost most of
their games throughout the year and finally got their act together at the end.
Brett is enjoying Karate and recently received his yellow belt. Cathy is
enjoying her work and as a computer systems analyst she is in high demand. I
started work again in March and changed positions. I moved from the Service
Battalion to Brigade Headquarters. Essentially I am a logistics troubleshooter
and sort out support problems whenever two or more units get together. This can
be a fun job but it means I am on the road a lot. I have been to Shilo Manitoba
already twice in March and I will be spending half of April and May there as
well.
I will be moving in June not far only
about 14kms. This however, is not a military move therefor, I must move myself.
It will be a steak and beer move so those of you within a four hundred-km radius
of Edmonton I will be looking for you on about the 27th of June.
Jay
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