It's not over...till it's over. It's a relentless flow of calls in the middle of the night, gruesome injuries and somber moments. While the instructor pilots train up our replacements, Damien and I have been carrying the load for these couple days. Even with all the excitement, and frantic business going on around us as we get ready to hand it over, we still get pulled back to reality and have to deal with those things that occasionally make one sad inside. It was a difficult day for the Canadians...
Difficult for us too. It was interesting to observe the youngest of our crewmembers and how he tried to make sense of what he saw. We all handle things differently, have different backgrounds and levels of experience that define our reactions at times. Me, I just went and laid in bed, played a few mellow tunes on the guitar before trying to go to sleep. He preferred to smoke a couple cigarettes out with some of our guys at the smoke pit and tell his war stories. He wanted them to realize what he saw and help try to solve the puzzle that he couldn't comprehend. The call had been for a "HERO mission," - transporting the remains of a fallen comrade. Though no longer a medical emergency, we do provide this service out of respect when able. We had certain expectations when we landed, the stretcher or maybe even a casket already, a couple escorts from his unit etc. Weren't quite ready for one Canadian to board the helicopter carrying only a small box- about the size of a small cooler. Our young crewmember was perplexed trying to imagine all the possible scenarios where a small container was all that remained to be transported and buried back home. And that was only the last call of a long day for the Canadians already....