Written By Brad Harness
“Hey, BN!” called out one of his barracks mates. “Think fast!”
A pair of sweaty underpants sailed through the air and landed short of the tall, fit young man by the bed.
There were beds spread all along the wall of the H-hut. They were bunk beds, with two men in each. The army platoon had lived alongside each other like this for the past three years. The men were all young and had all spent three months at the Recruit School in St-Jean, Quebec.
Then it had been off to Gagetown, New Brunswick, for Infantry School, for six months, where the men learned to be an army soldier, capable of fighting in the field alongside their more seasoned colleagues who made up their battalion.
This battalion was the 1st Battalion, Canadian Guards. The Guards regiment was a proud lot, steeped in traditions passed on since the Second World War. And they were tough: The colonel who commanded these men made sure his battalion was in the lead whenever war games rolled around each year.
They had served a six-month tour in the NATO battle group in Latvia, most recently, and were now back at the regiment’s home base in London, Ontario.
BN looked over at his buddy and laughed. “Is that the best you can do, eh, Donny?! Sweaty panties?”
Donald Hindmarsh smiled and threw him a football next, which BN caught in his firm grip.
Donny said, “I still can’t believe you - of all people - are taking your release, Borys…”
“Well, yeah…” replied Borys.
“You got a girl in trouble or something?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” he smiled. “But I need to go overseas to…visit my relatives for a few years. They need MY help.”
Corporal Borys Nadiya had been born in London - Ontario - to Ukrainian immigrants. He had served his country in the Canadian Army for two 3-year tours of duty and last month he volunteered to serve in one of several foreign volunteer battalions in Ukraine’s war for survival against Russia.
Donny wasn’t pleased. “Hey, man! That’s the real thing over there. The shooting and the killing. I know we all trained for that sort of shit, but have you seen the casualty rates? You could end up coming back to your folks in a body bag…in just a few months!”
NEXT WEEK: PART 2
