On this episode of the Krusty Connect Podcast, I reflect on some of my experiences overseas, talk about what Remembrance Day means to me, and hopefully shed some light on the chaos that we re experiencing in this country right now as we speak.
00:00:00.000Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a beautiful 9th November 2021. Coming up on the Krusty Connect podcast, a very special episode, episode 156, Remembrance 2021. Never in vain. I will always remember. I'm going to reflect on some of my experiences overseas, talk about what Remembrance Day means to me, and hopefully shed some light on the chaos that we're experiencing in this country right now as we speak.
00:00:28.720All that and more come at the podcast. Please stick around.
00:00:58.720That's right, ladies and gentlemen, episode 156, a very, very special episode of Krusty Connect podcast. Listener and viewer discretion is advised.
00:01:15.100I tend to use some swear words, and there'll be some audio coming up later with a lot of profanity in it. Needless to say, if you like and hear what you see, please click like and subscribe and share this all around your social media platforms.
00:01:27.240There won't be so much visual today. There'll just be pictures for you. So I'll do some video a bit later in the show.
00:01:32.500But needless to say, this is what you're going to see right now, ladies and gentlemen. I know I said last episode there was going to be some scheduling differences with my employment.
00:01:41.800They changed the schedule around, so I had the ability to make an episode today. And I figured, why not? Let's do a Remembrance Day special, because I'll be working Remembrance Day, oddly enough.
00:01:50.760But still, here we are, episode 156 of the Krusty Connect podcast. Remembrance. Now, when I look at Remembrance Day, all my natural life, Remembrance Day has been an important day for me.
00:02:04.360From my grandfathers that served in World War II, to a distant relative that served in the Boer War, to a distant uncle that apparently served in Korea, and not to mention the people I've met over the years that served in certain peacekeeping operations, as well as having the honor of meeting some Vietnam veterans who happened to be Canadian, who volunteered with the American services back in the late 60s and did their part for what they thought was right.
00:02:29.420And when I look at Remembrance Day, ladies and gentlemen, it doesn't faze me what color or creed anybody is. It doesn't faze me what gender or what identity or who they sleep with. I look at every Canadian, whether it be First Nation, whether it be Asian, whether it be East Indian, Sikh, Pakistani, English, Scottish, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Russian.
00:02:56.460Everybody that took up an arm for this country and served in World War I and II and Korea and other operations and other peacekeeping operations and operations that felt dear to their heart.
00:03:10.640I pay homage to those individuals, every man, woman, and child that took up an arm or forced to take up arms or thought that's what they had to do for a greater good.
00:03:27.780So we were told, so we were thought, pardon me, what we were taught to think.
00:03:33.500When I look at our history, yes, we have a history of bloody chaos.
00:03:36.460We also have a history of bloody progress, too.
00:03:39.880When I look at Canada, I think of not just my home and native land, I think of my home, where my heart is.
00:03:46.460You've heard me ramble on more than enough times, ladies and gentlemen, in regards to how much I love this nation.
00:03:52.080And the past year and a half with the COVID issue and the vaccine issues and the constant promoted racial divides that are constantly being thrown down our throats every day.
00:04:03.300I can see why it gets hard for people to focus on the important things.
00:04:08.800To me, the important things is your health, your friends, your family, and your well-being.
00:04:13.160And that's for everybody, too, regardless of what your background is, regardless of where heritage lies or where it doesn't lie, where it once was or where it is now.
00:04:21.920The welfare of yourself and your family is of the utmost importance.
00:04:30.760You want to see your loved ones excel.
00:04:32.420You want to see your loved ones get ahead.
00:04:33.900You want to see your kids graduate high school and college and get that perfect job and get that perfect car, that perfect home, and have that perfect spouse and have that perfect life that we all dream of one way or the other.
00:04:46.180Like, we've all been told to dream of from the time we were born to the time we start counting on our fingers and the time we start reading our first novel to the time we start thinking about what colleges and universities we have to go to those last years of high school to where we are now.
00:05:01.380I'm not making fun of anybody who has pursued academic excellence or financial excellence.
00:05:08.400This is not one of those episodes where I'm going to criticize individuals who take it upon themselves to enjoy their freedom and to embrace it and to encourage it.
00:05:17.300But this Remembrance Day, let's reflect and let's remember those individuals that gave their lives all colors and creeds, from the Cree to the Ojibwe to the Mohawks, the Urquois, Mi'kmaq, to the Blackfoot, to the Crow, to the Blood.
00:05:31.380To the Irish Canadians, to the English Canadians, to the Scottish Canadians, to the French Canadians, to the Polish Canadians, Ukrainian Canadians, Russian Canadians, Sikh Canadians, East Indian Canadians, Pakistani Canadians, Chinese Canadians, Japanese Canadians, you name it.
00:05:48.680All Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians, all Canadians.
00:06:07.700Yours truly knows a few people that are out here with us today because of the war in Afghanistan
00:06:12.920and because of what happened to themselves, from the experiences they encountered
00:07:21.280Who are you to tell me what I should honor and not honor?
00:07:24.940Firstly, I don't tell you to honor anything other than what you want to honor.
00:07:28.320And secondly, you have the freedom to honor what you desire because of people like, well, myself, who wanted to fight, who stood up to the plate.
00:07:39.080To my grandfathers that stood up to the plate, too, especially at a time when it was really, really needed to fight a necessary evil like fascism and communism.
00:07:50.580My American friends did the exact same thing, regardless if it was for Korea or for Vietnam or the Gulf War.
00:07:58.920We all know about the lies and the tricks of the trade and everything, but there were still men and women in both of our countries that were willing to lay down their lives, whether it be for the idea of freedom or the actual gesture of freedom.
00:08:12.520And I thank you all deeply and I honor you deeply for the commitments and the sacrifices and the demons you have slayed in said process.
00:08:24.200When I look back at Remembrance Day and look on Remembrance Day, I do remember.
00:08:28.680I remember the jokes and the laughs I had with my section commanders, the jokes and the laughs we had with our medic, with my captain, with my warrant officer, with other radio operators that were with me during that year.
00:08:41.100I remember one individual where he lost his life and I saw the explosion that killed him.
00:08:53.420And it wasn't gory, it wasn't dramatic, it was just like that.
00:10:22.360And now we all know in the news how the Americans, Canadians, the Brits alike pulled out of Afghanistan and left one hell of a fucking mess there.
00:10:36.140But we all know what that story was and how it affected a lot of us, too.
00:10:41.880And I remember sitting and having some conversations with some of my fellow Afghan vets discussing the whole procedure and the politics of it all.
00:10:51.920And to summarize it, ladies and gentlemen, just one effing, effing nightmare, just one bloody nightmare with red tape, with other bureaucracies and bureaucrats, people hobgobbling here and hobgobbling there.
00:11:07.240And you would almost think that what we did in that country was in vain.
00:11:11.880One would think that the average Joe, the average Josephine would just go, hmm, was it really worth all that money and effort?
00:11:21.440There's a few people that are not with us today who would beg to differ.
00:11:28.180What I remember of being in that country was the heat, not just the weather, not just the temperature, but the heat.
00:11:40.520You could feel more than the average person could from getting off the plane in Kandahar to smelling the infamous sulfur lake or the poo cloud we used to call it.
00:11:51.740Almost like a proverbial shovel, giving you a smack right in the jaw as soon as you hit the tarmac.
00:11:58.380Nothing but that overwhelming stench of sulfur and human fecal matter polluting our nostrils as we took one step forward into Kandahar Airport to get our gear and get ready to go to our dwellings, per se.
00:12:13.380Anyway, it's funny when I think back from 2007, the adventures that I had and the friends that I made and the contacts I'm still in touch with today, how we can still sit and laugh and joke about some of the hideous things we saw and still feel pain over them too.
00:12:33.980So, I look at our history as one of great, great things.
00:12:43.260And regardless of what has come to surface the past year or two years, ladies and gentlemen, especially here in Canada with the issues with the First Nations schools, the residential school and all that, the truth will be out there.
00:13:14.000I look at the uniform and what it represented and what it still represents to me today.
00:13:19.540Honor, respect, courage, dignity, pride, unity, and a love of nation.
00:13:26.980So, contrary to the myth that's being taught in a lot of schools today, especially in the post-secondary areas too, it's not a crime to love your nation.
00:13:36.740We're constantly being bombarded with identities and who identifies as this and what identifies as what and who is she and who is he.
00:13:48.160Can our friends to the South, can they not say they're Americans?
00:13:52.220Can our friends over in Europe say they're not British or French or German or Polish or Russian or Hungarian or Ukrainian or Belarusian or Latvian or Estonian or Finnish or Swedish or Norwegian or Danish or Icelandic?
00:14:17.160With all this hype about who's speaking what language and who isn't, Prime Minister Krista Freeland, correction, not Prime Minister, I'm thinking too far ahead.
00:14:38.460Who is she to criticize anyone's efforts when she is almost single-handling herself, taking a lot of Canadian money and giving it away to everyone but Canadians?
00:14:49.320Same as our Prime Minister sitting around discussing the whole fact about let's abolish fossil fuels, let's get rid of Canadian fossil fuels so the only people that can buy it are the well-to-do and naysayers of Canadian progress.
00:15:03.860Meanwhile, Canadians are stuck with $10, $12 barrels of inhumane oil that's brought to you by countries such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and other third-world conglomerates that treat women and children like cattle.
00:15:16.560Is that what us Canadians fought for, ladies and gentlemen?
00:15:26.580To my American friends, is that the freedom you fought for?
00:15:29.240To my British friends, is that the freedom you fought for?
00:15:32.480Every major conflict, World War I and II in Korea, Canadians, Brits, and Americans stood side-by-side along with Australians and New Zealanders and other members of the United Nations at that time.
00:15:43.740During the Vietnam War, roughly about 25,000 to 30,000 Canadians signed up with American services to fight that war against communism, so they were told.
00:15:57.200The gentleman that I've spoken to personally, signed up because they thought it was the thing to do.
00:16:08.320And they did it, and they came back, luckily.
00:16:22.560But needless to say, there were men and women in both of our countries, in all the countries that I mentioned, that stood up and did what they thought was right.
00:16:29.600And all the more reasons to represent and to respect this sacred day.
00:16:35.400Regardless of color, or creed, or identity, or political belief, or what party you have fucking homage to.
00:16:42.180How about the maple leaf there in the background?
00:21:05.840And a few times, especially during my election campaign, when I was trying to win a seat in Parliament for this writing, I had a few sincere people come up and say, thank you very much for your service.
00:21:46.940You can almost just hear it click, just like that.
00:21:51.680You can almost hear it, how condescending that twat waffle and or twat waffles are when it comes to dealing with people that have actually served, that have seen action, who have done things, who have overcome insurmountable odds to reach their goal.
00:23:10.120Constantly going through my head, little routines and SOPs.
00:23:14.160But I'm here now to say, yeah, I did that.
00:23:22.380And regardless of what people think about warfare, it is fucking ugly.
00:23:26.020But sometimes it's a necessary evil, ladies and gentlemen.
00:23:32.840And all the more the reasons to honor and respect those who are willing to commit that sacrifice.
00:23:38.520Who are willing to commit their lives to make sure that ugliness doesn't come here.
00:23:44.880When I look at Canada, my home, and like I've said, my home in native land, I look at the opportunities that have been bestowed on us prior to our births, prior to our parents' births, prior to our grandparents' births, and in some cases our great-grandparents' births.
00:24:14.560So for anybody of a certain group or a certain conglomerate or a certain identity points fingers at me and says, you must recognize your privilege.
00:24:24.080Maybe you should recognize your prejudice before you ever, ever condemn my so-called optical privilege.
00:24:34.540I've had to work for everything in my life.
00:25:05.840But it took work, sweat, and dedication.
00:25:08.880And not just the administrative dedication, i.e., write the papers, make the grade, drive the body, shoot the foot, but put up a lot of bullshit from people, too.
00:25:18.980And you get that in any job, ladies and gentlemen, regardless.
00:25:24.460But when someone says to me, you better recognize your privilege, well, okay, let's recognize the privileges this country has given to a lot of people.
00:25:31.100A lot of people, all colors and creeds, all shapes and sizes, all identities, all spectrums, all educational levels, and all social levels.
00:25:43.660So the moment someone says, recognize your privilege, maybe they should recognize their prejudice.
00:25:50.940And then watch them chew their words as you laugh at them hysterically.
00:25:56.340Stay updated and follow Krusty Canuck on Facebook, Twitter, Gap, Telegram, YouTube, and Podbean.
00:26:04.880Subscribe today and donate at KrustyCanuck.ca.
00:26:11.380And like I said, ladies and gentlemen, I have some audio here I'm going to play for you as all.
00:26:15.660Well, as an act of remembrance, not a cheesy bagpipe solo or nothing like that, not condemning what beautiful pipers do.
00:26:24.340But I just want to give you, my civilian listeners out there, too, an insight on how it sounds.
00:26:34.140Now, I'm not going to promote the actual, I'm not going to put the actual video up and put the audio up.
00:26:38.540But I want you to listen to every crack and thump and every bang and crash and especially some of the dialogue at the end, please, if you can.
00:26:49.000And close your eyes while you're listening, too, please, because it has a little more effect that way, ladies and gentlemen, a little more effect.
00:26:57.700And it's going to start with you to understand and to spread this beautiful podcast around, if you can, too.
00:27:06.620I'll just give you some insight on how things work and what a day or a moment or an hour of battle can do to one.
00:29:15.680Take that first crew across, get across.
00:29:41.680Right on boys, you're definitely going to wonder who the Canadians are from here on out, that's for sure.
00:29:57.680That gives you some insight, ladies and gentlemen, on some of the experiences that I encountered and some of my fellow brethren, brothers and sisters alike, that was taken from a battle in 2006.
00:30:10.680Now, I'm not going to mention any names or display their faces out of the sake of security and privacy.
00:30:17.680But needless to say, pardon the audio, but I'm not going to mention their names or the privacy and respect for the privacy.
00:31:06.680And regardless of what the political agenda is today, whether you believe in the big reset or the great reset or the build back better bullshit that's constantly being rammed down our throats in the name of protecting the environment.
00:31:19.680There are people who laid their asses on the line in every major conflict, all colors and creeds, ladies and gentlemen.
00:31:29.680I've said numerous times here in the podcast.
00:31:32.680I was not raised in a household where I judge people based on the color of their skin.
00:31:36.680I judge people based on their character and how they treat others.
00:31:40.680And it doesn't matter if they're First Nations.