12-01-2009, 03:07
|
#1
|
|
Auxiliary
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Luxembourg
Posts: 82
|
Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson.
Quote:
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD - Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson joined the army at 50.
Now at age 58, he's on his fourth tour of duty, his third in Afghanistan.
And he sees the progress Canada's mission here is making.
"Going through Kandahar, there's way more people now, the pattern of life is a lot friendlier to NATO troops and areas are building up," says Hjalmarson, with 1PPCLI in Edmonton.
"Even in the smaller villages, people are willing to come up and give you information about insurgents. Before, they were so scared of contacting the troops, scared of reprisals.But now they realize we come into an area, stay there longer and provide them with protection so they are willing to take more of a risk and help us."
The Vancouver Island native - whose son just completed a fourth tour in Afghanistan - says he hopes more Canadians are beginning to appreciate the efforts of the mission here.
"Canada is a great place to grow up, people take a lot for granted, and I think everyone should have to come to a country like this and appreciate what they have."
Being a soldier, he says, is a way to give back.
"We're here by the invitation of the legally elected democratic government of Afghanistan. They asked for our help because they want to get rid of these insurgents that are trying to take back this country and oppress it.
"Everybody should have the right to live without being oppressed. But you go through these villages and look at these little kids hardly big enough to walk and they're carrying wood for fire and herding goats. They don't have a childhood here."
Hjalmarson, a grandfather, is hopeful they soon will.
In the arm-sleeve pocket of his camouflage, he slides out photos, one of his father, the other his grandfather - both proud decorated soldiers.
On the back are poems he's written for army comrades, one of whom died in battle. He himself survived an IED blast in February 2006.
Hjalmarson isn't sure what he'll do when mandatory retirement rolls around at 60.
He turned 50 in battle school.
"Bars are meant to be raised," winks the former millwright and machinist.
"It was my last chance to do something I always wanted to do."
|
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/canad...sun.html#print
|
|
skylinedrive is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 05:35
|
#2
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
|
A toast - "To the North Americans!"
Richard
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)
“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
|
|
Richard is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 06:03
|
#3
|
|
SF Candidate
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 58
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
A toast - "To the North Americans!"
Richard
|
Aye! 58 year old combat grunt? I'd like to shake his hand.
|
|
Stealthed is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 08:48
|
#4
|
|
Auxiliary
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Luxembourg
Posts: 82
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
A toast - "To the North Americans!"
Richard
|
Hear! Hear!
|
|
skylinedrive is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 09:30
|
#5
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pinehurst,NC
Posts: 1,091
|
Great story! Somehow I don't feel as old as I did before I read this.  Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson's thinking seems to be right on. May God protect him and his fellow soldiers during his deployment.
__________________
Let us conduct ourselves in such a fashion that all nations wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies. The Virtues of War - Steven Pressfield
|
|
dennisw is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 12:33
|
#6
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: 11 miles from Dove Creek, Colorady
Posts: 3,924
|
Take off!
58?? GIVE THE MAN A BEER, EH?
__________________
"...But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive."
Shakespeare - Henry V
Lazy Bob Ranch
|
|
Utah Bob is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 12:53
|
#7
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 2,952
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Utah Bob
58?? GIVE THE MAN A BEER, EH? |
Molsen, LaBatts, Moose Head, etc. works for me!!
Be well Cpl Eric Hjalmarson!!
This FOG is proud of you!!!
RF 1
|
|
Red Flag 1 is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 14:21
|
#8
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
|
I wish our Army was as receptive to old farts! Congrats Cpl - way to go!
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
|
|
ZonieDiver is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 16:37
|
#9
|
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: st louis mo.
Posts: 315
|
Quote:
|
Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson joined the army at 50
|
I thought 40 was the age limit for enlisting??
|
|
dadof18x'er is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 16:41
|
#10
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,820
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by dadof18x'er
I thought 40 was the age limit for enlisting??
|
In the Canadian Army?
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
|
|
The Reaper is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 16:42
|
#11
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
|
Quote:
|
I thought 40 was the age limit for enlisting??
|
FYI - he's Canadian - 1PPCLI (1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry) - North American (US-CAN) but not American.
Richard
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)
“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
|
|
Richard is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 16:48
|
#12
|
|
Quiet Professional (RIP)
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Carriere,Ms.
Posts: 6,922
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZonieDiver
I wish our Army was as receptive to old farts! Congrats Cpl - way to go!
|
Maybe we should go to Canada ................ Congrats Cpl. and your son too.
Big Teddy 
__________________
I believe that SF is a 'calling' - not too different from the calling missionaries I know received. I knew instantly that it was for me, and that I would do all I could to achieve it. Most others I know in SF experienced something similar. If, as you say, you HAVE searched and read, and you do not KNOW if this is the path for you --- it is not....
Zonie Diver
SF is a calling and it requires commitment and dedication that the uninitiated will never understand......
Jack Moroney
SFA M-2527, Chapter XXXVII
|
|
greenberetTFS is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 18:21
|
#13
|
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Midwest
Posts: 7,134
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
A toast - "To the North Americans!"
|
Cheers!
Stay safe Cpl Hjalmarson.
__________________
My Heroes wear camouflage.
|
|
Gypsy is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 19:21
|
#14
|
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by greenberetTFS
Maybe we should go to Canada ................:Congrats Cpl. and your son too.
Big Teddy |
Too cold. I cannot afford a team of dogs for the sled. I failed "advanced igloo building." I don't understand hockey (sorry, Teddy), and prefer Mexican beer. Otherwise, except for the fact I am now 60... let's go!
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
|
|
ZonieDiver is offline
|
|
|
12-01-2009, 19:42
|
#15
|
|
Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: In the Woods
Posts: 882
|
Quote:
|
Cpl. Eric Hjalmarson joined the army at 50. Now at age 58, he's on his fourth tour of duty, his third in Afghanistan.
|
Damn, some guys just don’t quit.
Way to go Corporal
SnT
__________________
Die Gedanken sind frei
Democrats would burn down this country as long as they get to rule over the ashes
The FBI’s credibility was murdered by a sniper on Ruby Ridge; its corpse was burned to ashes outside Waco; soiled in a Delaware PC repair shop;. and buried in the basement of Mar-a-Lago..
|
|
Surf n Turf is offline
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 23:18.
|
|
|
Linear Mode
