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I hope Gord sees this letter from Afghanistan (Orillia Packet & Times)

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A special Christmas message from one of our own in Afghanistan
Posted 3 hours ago

Letter to the editor and open letter to St Paul's friends:

Salaam Alaakem, Merry Christmas, and hello from Kandahar, Afghanistan. I thought I would drop you a line because I definitely know where I'd rather be for Christmas. Despite the vast number of Charlie Brown Christmas trees (including my own), and the almost endless soprano saxophone Christmas carols playing in the mess hall, I am not anticipating a white Christmas in these parts. Kandahar is cool and rainy this time of year, and truth be told, that is a nice break from the summer, when temperatures often reached 40 -45 C and even 50 C occasionally; quite warm, you know -- good for the pores!

This has been a long and intense journey for me. Very difficult at times, when my comrades and I have had to bid farewell to fellow Canadians who have given their lives over here. I know this war stirs a lot of very strong feelings in most people; but I can tell you I've never seen a place more impoverished than this, but where, bit by bit, we are making a difference in the lives of regular people. Whether it's little girls going to school, people getting vaccinations against things as seemingly improbable as polio, or clean water bubbling up in freshly dug wells, your women and men in the uniform of the Canadian Forces are steadily adding to the quality of life.

I have been here almost eight months now, mostly inside the Canadian headquarters on the base, but also sent on the occasional mission "outside the wire." This is a strange place: the rural areas -- largely farmland -- are austerely beautiful and look to have remained unchanged since biblical times. The more urban areas -- such as Kandahar City -- are testament to how human life and activity can carry on in even the most dire of circumstances, where rebuilding after 30 years of war and tyranny is only just beginning, and where acts of senseless -- but deliberate -- violence are an almost daily occurrence. If that weren't enough, people like me, who grew up within postcard-like Orillia, find it something of a culture shock to see open-air butcheries on the corner, where goats and chicken are hung for a customer's inspection, or hear the solemn evening call-to-prayer crackling over a public broadcast system. Or finally to watch half a dozen children fly a kite through a concrete-strewn vacant lot -- behind them there is an old brick wall scored with bullet holes.

The task of improving the situation here is often very difficult, as demonstrated by those who've paid the ultimate sacrifice. So believe me when I tell you, there is nothing more important to the women and men here than best wishes from home -- especially this time of year, when all of us are thinking about snow and family and friends and parties and possibly the occasional eggnog and rum.

Nevertheless, I have greatly treasured the privilege to represent my country. I have some really good buddies over here, and we keep each other laughing with the kind of humour and speculations fit more for a theatre of war than for a church sanctuary! I have had some great opportunities to work with Brits and Americans -- and of course, Afghans! And, finally, to dispel any really sharp pang of homesickness, I can always visit the Tim Hortons here on base, safely snugged away inside a fragmentation-proof trailer. Yes, it is slightly surreal to be drinking a large black Tim Hortons coffee while fighter jets scream by overhead.

In any case, fondest wishes to all of you for your Christmas and for your new year. Thank you all for your messages of concern and support -- and especially for your prayers. If I may, I have two requests to make of you. The first is that you take a little time to reflect on all the blessings, beauty, and (most of all) liberty that Canada so rightly cherishes, nowhere so exemplified as in Orillia. The second, say hello to Gordon Lightfoot for me; when I need a dose of the hometown, I've got Tim Hortons coffee and Gord on the iPod.

Merry Christmas, Inshallah. Your St. Paul's friend, Matt

Capt. Matt Lennox, Headquarters,

Joint Task Force Afghanistan