4 Canadians Wounded in Afghanistan, and other News
Four Canadian soldiers have been wounded — one seriously — after their armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb north of Kandahar City early Wednesday.
The LAV 3 was hit near a forward base at Gumbad, 75 kilometres north of Kandahar City.
More Afghan News @ Celestial Junk
Fortunately, three were only moderately wounded and are now listed in good condition. The fourth soldier is more seriously wounded and was medevac’ed (by US Air Force C-17 transport) to hospital (US Army Regional Med. Center hospital in Landstuhl, Germany).
I’m sure we all wish those brave soldiers and their loved ones strength and courage and a speedy recovery. Their sacrifice is in a noble cause.
(I mention the US flight and US hospital because the Comrades at CTV chose not to do so. That’s what Allies do, right? Helping each other, standing together shoulder-to-shoulder.)
There is a song and video tribute to our soldiers at this address —marriedtothecanadianforces.com/PHP-Nuke/
It is very well done.
Lets hope for a speedy recovery to the all our wounded. Thank goodness for LAV3s and Naylas. No doubt these vehicles have saved many lives. I shudder to think of the casualties that would have resulted had they been in the Iltis Jeeps.
A further example as to why having the proper equiptment(LAV III’S) and obtaining the proper equiptment(Chinooks etc..) will help save lives in the future.
I once travelled in an Iltis that took a 7.62 mm round in the left headlamp,travelled through the radiator,the engine block,a seat,a small radio and two sideways stacked c-rat cases before exiting the vehicle through the rear bumper!
What a piece of kyfe that vehicle was..no wonder the Afghan national army wouldn’t even take them!
Slightly off-topic, but the Ayatollah Khomeini’s grandson has called on the US to invade Iran. Not only that, he’s calling for it from Iran!!! Link to Biased BBC or Telegraph.co.uk.
Having been directly involved in the design and testing of the LAV III, I can state with great confidence that the crew protection offered by the vehicle is second to none when compared to other similar vehicles. Its three layer armour protection – main hull, interior spall liner and optional exterior add-on armour – when combined with its boat shape design, provides excellent (but not total) protection from IEDs, mines and RPG attack. It must be remembered that any combat vehicle ever made, including an M1 Abrams tank, can be defeated given the use of a sufficient quantity of explosives.
So far, it appears the LAV III has turned out to be an excellent vehicle for the purpose. Hope we’ve ordered more of them, as it is likely the War on Us won’t end soon.
A recent conversation I had WRT the gun registry comes to mind. The lady I was talking with supported it, at any cost, spouting the standard “if it saves one life” crap. A couple of beers later, the conversation had moved to our deployment to Afstan. I suggested helicopters, Hercs, and Globemasters should be obtained asap. She jumped in and asserted that “those things” were way too expensive, and were wasteful military/industrial complex boondoggles. I just grinned at her and said “If it saves just one life…”
My wife and I don’t expect to waste much more precious social time with her. And she stuck us with the bill. Small price to pay, really.
Canadian Soldier Song.
http://www.solpics.com/
Having retired from the military after thirty-five plus years of service, my heart and prayers go out to the wounded soldiers. I pray to God that all will recover and return home to loved ones. I wish this for all of our brave young men and women who go into harms way on our behalf. I care not one whit for the government stance. I support the soldiers, sailors, and airmen/women who serve this country so well. God Bless and Keep you All……
It always hurts to see our guys going down, especially from such a cowardly attack as a roadside bomb! I’m praying they’ll all make a full and speedy recovery, and I’m confident they’ll get the best care available out there!
kursk:
Yeah, the good old ILTIS. lol. Was fun to ride in (never drove it myself) but definately not a very survivable vehicle; it’d be absolute suicide driving it in a hostile urban environment!
Any idea if there’s a replacement for the LSVW coming down the line? (I can’t stand that vehicle, underpowered pos!… plus it’s real fun driving the LS Amb when you’ve got a patient with spinal injury in the back… (based on actual story…))
Canforce:
There’s supposed to be an announcement this week about new trucks. Whether that’s LS or ML I’m not sure. (The MLVW is a gloriously underpowered POS, too, IMHO)