By Laurie Hawn, MP
Edmonton Centre

There was no shortage of Christmas spirit and Olympic excitement in Afghanistan in December.

I joined Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk, Secretary of State (Sport) Gary Lunn, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobsen in bringing Christmas cheer to our troops. We brought some excellent Canadian talent in singer-songwriter Melanie Dekker and comedian Mike MacDonald, and this was my fourth chance to spend Christmas with thousands of incredibly courageous and committed Canadians from military, police and civilian organizations.

It took 22 hours of flying to make the four hops from Edmonton to Kabul. We spent the first day with Canadian Embassy staff and international leaders. The briefings we heard were encouraging, though there remains much work to be done.

Our entertainers did the first of many shows that evening for troops while we delivered some Olympic spirit to every soldier in the form of red Olympic mitts. The Bay supplied 3,000 pairs, and Air Canada ensured the 17 large hockey bags carrying them -- weighing in at half a ton -- got there.

The evening finished with dinner and discussion with ambassadors to Afghanistan or their deputies from Canada, the United States, Great Britain and The Netherlands. As well, we heard the sad news that we had lost Lt. Andrew Nuttall from Edmonton's Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

With morning prayers echoing from nearby mosques on Christmas Eve, it was down to Kandahar to join up with the folks at the pointy-end of the mission. The first stop is always Tim Hortons for a double-double. The long lineup is a great place to meet soldiers of all nationalities.

I was surprised to meet a constituent named Kevin who served me my coffee at the walk-thru window. Kevin is with the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency, whose members spend six-month tours operating retail outlets and providing travel services.

Lunch with the troops was followed by an unwelcome but necessary ramp ceremony to honour Lt. Nuttall on his departure back home. These are solemn ceremonies with the mournful wail of the bagpipes filling the air. The padre gives a blessing, and hundreds of allied troops salute the slow passing of the flag-draped casket into the waiting C-130 Hercules.

After more briefings, a visit to the Role 3 Hospital, a show for the troops, and more Olympic mitts, we donned our helmets and protective gear and took off in a Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, escorted by two Griffon gunships. Airmen and women from Edmonton's 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron and other units have been providing critical airlift to Canada and its allies for the past year and have earned accolades from all quarters.

Joined by the now deceased Michelle Lang, a reporter for the Calgary Herald, we made our first stop at Mas'um Ghar, a Forward Operating Base (FOB) from which Edmonton's Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) operate their Leopard 2 tanks.

We arrived just in time to deliver dozens of letters from Edmonton schoolchildren and to serve up Christmas turkey to a couple of hundred deserving troops, after which they were properly entertained by Mike and Melanie.

There's something about laughter and a pretty girl with a great voice that makes life a little better, wherever you are.

After a midnight visit to guard posts to wish sentries a Merry Christmas, the Strats were kind enough to offer me what passes for VIP quarters in rural Afghanistan.

Christmas Day was bright, beautiful and busy. Our Chinook and Griffon escorts showed up on time, and we launched off to the first of four FOBs that we would visit that day. At each, the mitts, the performers and the food were big hits.

While at a new FOB manned primarily by the U.S. army as part of the increased American footprint in Afghanistan, some of Mike's jokes poked fun at our American allies, but no shots were fired.

The final stop on Christmas Day was the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team location, from which Canadian soldiers and civilians go out to manage the hundreds of development projects, big and small, that are providing jobs and making life better for Afghans.

No turkey for these folks; it was prime rib and lobster tails -- not bad.

Before returning to Canada, we stopped off at our Middle East base where an unsung team of about 170 handle the bulk of the logistics and personnel transportation requirements for the Afghanistan theatre. One more show, one more dinner, a few hundred more mitts and it was off for the long trip home and a belated Christmas with our own families.

This trip is always the highlight of my year, and it was made more special by visiting with so many personnel from Edmonton, be they Strathconas, Patricias, Chimos, Loyal Eddies, Mother Geese (408) or any of the other units that make up such a great team representing the best that Canada has to offer the world. Bless 'em all!