Comox

[Robert Bergeron]

I was in Vancouver on Remembrance Day 16.

Went to the downtown ceremony on the advice of friend Harry Moon because it was the closest one to the ferry and time was of the essence...

After the officials in attendance went away , the public was invited to present their poppies on the monument as a mark of personal respect for our fallen.

Did as invited and thought of the friends and comrades who had lost their lives , their physical or mental health while performing their duties for Canada.

A stranger put his hand on my shoulder and said thanks for your service Sir. It felt good to be encouraged by someone who appreciated .

Then I was invited to a party at the renovated Seaforth's Highlanders of Canada Armoury over on Burrard St. and was received like a long lost friend although I was a complete stranger to them .

There I met the son of my personal hero : General Bertram Hoffmeister . I could not believe the luck I had to meet with him. Thank you CO of the Seaforths ! So happens that the General's son is their honorary LCol.

Long story short , I used Gen Hoffmeister's wartime career as a subject for my leadership essay at JCSP Toronto ( Staff College ) 3 years ago. that's how I got to know about the illustrious wartime career of this Citizen soldier reservist. He was a Captain in a militia unit ( Seaforths H .) at the beginning of the war and retired in 1946 as a Major General.

Anyway, drank a few with the boys in the Mess , forgot about the world's and my own troubles for a few hours and made my way to my hotel . I had to work early the next morning.

Thank-you for your hospitality Vancouver !

Long live the Highlanders !

[Robert Bergeron]

On a lighter note , there was a United Way fundraiser event recently on the Wing.

It is an annual competition called the Buff pull.

The idea is to pull a Buffalo SAR plane with your team a certain distance in the least amount of time.

I was greatly impressed by enthusiasm demonstrated by the teams.

Great idea for a great cause !

Cuddos for all the 19 wing personnel who participated.

[rob love]

Hey, I got a funny story about Buffalos on the runway.

In CFB Moosejaw we had a zoo just up the road towards MJ. A captive 1000 pound Buffalo decided he wanted a taste of freedom so jumped the fence and meandered over to the base, where he jumped the fence again and wandered out onto the runways. So the MPs and runway staff were busy trying to herd the animal (who was content just to sample the base's grass) and all flying had to cease.

My buddy Rick came back to work after lunch and there was the unusual silence of nothing flying so he asked why. Someone said there was a Buffalo on the runway. Rick asked "Did it stall?"

We were called with the wrecker at around 4PM to help load the tranquilized animal into the zoo's pickup truck. However, a month later, the same Buffalo decided to do it again, meandered through the PMQs and right through the front gate, where he had a heart attack from all the tranquilizer darts and had to be put down. The zoo closed a few months later.

[Robert Bergeron]

Thanks Rob, that's a very good one.

On another subject, I had the chance to visit another one of our installations in the area.

It is a little out of the way , so I had to navigate and do some map reading to get to it.

Once there , I was very cordially received by the very amicable Station Commander.

Upon arrival, the Commissionaire on duty at the front gate recognised the accent so he switched to the other Official language and we had a nice chat before he issued me a temporary Limited Access Area Pass.

You can find out more about the installation , it's purpose and our guests on Goggle.

Cheers.

[Robert Bergeron]

Friends,

I had to get out of the house on Sunday to air out so I went to Seal Bay for a hike .

It was raining cats and dogs .

Found these in a fenced in field.

The suspicious object is white but my camera could not get a closer shot and nobody was around to open up the front gate for me.

Do any of our Island friends now what it is or do I have to go and get the keys of the gate from the MP' s to have a closer look myself ?

Many thanks for your help.

Cheers.