Follow up from 408 Sqn member in Afghanistan

Hello Again Patty,
Sure is a small place indeed. There were a few people from "The Sandbar" when I was at Chatham & Gagetown. My wife had never been out East so I took her to PEI a couple years ago. The drive on the bridge was really something! I have relatives in Edmonton. My uncle used to work with the Water Works. Took them down to Vegas last September 11th. Guess we're due to visit them one summer in the near future.

I remember Derek Blatchford from my days with 400, and as a matter of fact, he emailed me last week to comment on a rare clip I posted at my Blog on the Avro Arrow, narrated by Star Trek's "Scotty".


Well, you Stay Safe!
Cheers,
Freddy K



On 24-Jan-10, at 3:08 AM, Patricia.MacWilliams wrote:

Hi there, it sure is a small world. My home is PEI I am serving with 408 Sqn in Edmonton. We have a few 400 Sqn pers serving with us here that are attached to 408 Sqn for deployment. You may have come across a Capt Blatchford as he was old 400 Sqn and served with us for a few years he is now retired. Little did I know when I sent back a Thank You note that it was to a former serving 400 Sqn pers. My husband also retired in 97 and joined the Edmonton Fire Dept and now is on his second career. The world really is a small place no matter where we are in the world we may run into someone we know. My husband said the same thing an opportunity came up to be a Fire Inspector and work straight days and he took it and loves it. Well I must get back to work.

Take Care

Patty

From: Fred Kuzyk
Sent: Saturday, 23, January, 2010 21:13 PM
To: MacWilliams WO
Subject: Re: Hello There

Good Day to you Patty!
Thank you for your letter. It's great to hear first-person accounts of serving personnel over there.
So where do you call home? I've pretty much lived my whole life in the Golden Horseshoe around the west end of Lake Ontario. (Toronto, Hamilton, Burlington, and Grimsby).
I was a Corporal with 400 squadron 30 years ago at Downsview (CFB Toronto) during the transition from Otters to Kiowa helicopters. It was only 4 short years but had a profound impact on my life.
My deployments included such exotic places as Borden & North Bay! I was promised Lahr or Baden Germany one year but ended up in Gagetown (which was a huge disappointment)!
Those were different days, as we never were in harm's way. Although afterwards when I was with the Fire Department in Hamilton, I read about a former squadron pilot I knew who had died in a Sea King crash. I also lost my best squadron buddy in the early 1990's when he committed suicide. Those were the closest experiences I had to tragedy. Pretty much all our mishaps during those peace-time years were self-inflicted! I ran a website for 8 years (and email Newsletters) dedicated to those CAF days with 400 Sqn, with pictures, stories, songs, etc but Yahoo recently closed down the free sites.

There still is a following of alumni from the unit from my time, as well as some folk who go back to the 1950's and those from more current years, so rather than launching another site, I've been posting stuff to my Blog. I've posted your letter there. You'll find postings there of my various interests, such as aviation items, fire service, music, videos and such. Including the 400 Squadron Song we used to sing.

http://freddyksblogoff.blogspot.com/

Do you folks still sing bawdy songs in the mess? We had quite a "set-list" back in our day, such as: The North Atlantic Squadron, Three German Soldiers, Roll Me Over in the Clover, Barnacle Bill The Sailor, and many others. I had forgotten about The Airman's Prayer, until I came across a reference with music & lyrics in a book recently. I'm working on posting it soon at my Blog as a music video. Apparently it goes back to the RAF in the 1930's & we sang a modified RCAF version of it..."May the Lord shit on you sideways said the airmen Amen"! I wouldn't be surprised if things are more politically correct these dys, as 25 years in the Fire Service has seen radical changes in this world - the days of military veterans has transformed to days of young college men & women, and the pin-up pictures are gone from lockers!
I'll be 55 next year & with the Air Force time I bought when I started as a firefighter, I'll have my 30 year pension. So it will be nice to work on those memoirs & just relax. The 60 hour shifts & nights have taken a toll over the years.

Nice to hear that the Horton's will be mobile & able to go to the next hot-spot. The way things are going, that might be Haiti!
Well, find me a length of hangar line & a bucket of prop wash! Keep 'em flying!
Keep your head down, Warrant.
Best wishes,
Freddy K




On 23-Jan-10, at 1:33 AM, Patricia.MacWilliams wrote:

Good morning to you. I am a female Canadian Soldier deployed with
CHF(A) ( Canadian Helicopter Force Afghanistan). We received some Xmas
Cards with Tim Horton gift certificates in them and cannot tell you how
greatfull we are for your generous support to the troops. For you to
take the time to send a card & a Tim Cards means a lot to our soldiers.
A little background on myself this is my first deployment here and what
an experience. Being here is not easy and especially at Christmas time.
We here had it rough over the holidays while our loved one were sitting
down to enjoy Christmas Eve we were on the ramp sending another Canadian
home from the war. Then of course New Years Day we were back again
sending four more home. This sure plays on your emotion and when most
are missing home at that time it did not make it easy. But we all know
what we are here for and pulled together to make the best of the holiday
season. I must say the support that we received over the holidays from
fellow Canadians was amazing. Little did I know that so many Canadians
would take the time from their busy sechedules to either send a note or
a card to any Canadian Soldiers. I have watched some who do not receive
much from home and getting these words of support means a lot to them.
Some have been coresponding with the letters that we passed on to them.
We here at the Helicopter Squadron tried to repond to any with a return
address. Sorry it took a month to get a note of Thanks off to you. I
will close again with a great big Thanks from all of us here with
Canadian Helicopter Force. The Timies is a great welcome to our troops.
Just found out that they are moving the location to be closer to where
the Canadians are housed and when deployment here in 2011 is complete it
will be portable and be sent to the next deployment that Canada is
called out for.

Again Thanks Very Much

Patty MacWilliams
Warrant Officer
Canadian Helicopter Force Afghanistan