Nice article I read in the News today.
iper:
:yellow:
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The solemn and reverential ramp ceremony that has come to mark the farewell from Afghanistan for fallen Canadians has become the iconic image of the conflict at home.
Part of that iconography is the haunting sound of a lone piper skirling dolorously as a flag-draped casket is slowly marched on the shoulders of companions-in-arms into the bay of a waiting transport plane.
Master Cpl. Mike Meagher played the bagpipes when the first ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield was held for Pte. Braun Woodfield of Eastern Passage, N.S., in November 2005 and again for diplomat Glyn Berry when he died two months later.
Since then he has participated in more than 30 similar farewells for Canadian, American and Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan.
"This is a responsibility, a duty and an honour," said Meagher, who thought he would give the bagpipes "a kick" when he joined the army 22 years ago because of his mixed Scottish-Irish heritage. "When a ceremony is done correctly here there is often an emotional response, particularly for those who were directly involved.
"Even if you know the person who has died, as I did the first time here because he was in my company, once you start playing you don't tend to dwell on that. The quality of sound is what you think of."
There are seven Canadian pipers serving in Kandahar at the moment. Most military pipers know about 400 tunes, but what has been played most often at ramp ceremonies in Kandahar is the 18th-century British hymn, Amazing Grace.
Flowers of the Field, the traditional lament for fallen soldiers, has also been played at times. However, Meagher believes that it is more appropriately played at gravesides because it is not a slow march, which is suited to ramp ceremonies because it allows pallbearers to find a proper marching cadence.
Assigned to Canada's air wing at the airfield, the 40-year-old from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., is eight months into a 10-month tour, his third in Afghanistan in five years. He has also frequently played at repatriation ceremonies at CFB Trenton when Canadians killed in Afghanistan first return to home soil.
Playing bagpipes on a blistering tarmac in southern Afghanistan involves special challenges.
"It is definitely more difficult to play here. Temperature is a factor," Meagher said of this extremely arid region where the thermometer in summer sometimes reaches 60 C. "Bagpipes require a degree of moisture and that is not present in this atmosphere. I add water to my bag."
Bagpipes have been part of the culture of Scotland's warring clans as far back as the 11th century and of Highland regiments for centuries.
The French and Dutch militaries have pipe bands. So do the Royal Gurkhas and the armies of several Gulf states including Oman. Many Canadian regiments have pipe and drum bands, although only one regular force battalion, 2 Royal Canadian Regiment, still has a band.
"When the British Empire marched across the world, the pipers went along," Meagher said. "As many have said, bagpipes are an instrument of war. They inspire men to fight and lament those who have died. Regardless of what country's military plays them, they have become synonymous with war."
What Meagher plays in Kandahar is a military-issue Great Highland Bagpipe.
The ramp ceremonies and the pipers' central part in them, had become the iconic image of war in Canada "because they provide a snippet or snapshot for the media of what is going on," he said. "We couldn't possibly have done this during World War II because there were so many casualties.
"I don't know how practical it is, but it is a show of deep respect. I am a piper. A soldier has died, so I must play."
link
(Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act
iper::yellow:
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The solemn and reverential ramp ceremony that has come to mark the farewell from Afghanistan for fallen Canadians has become the iconic image of the conflict at home.
Part of that iconography is the haunting sound of a lone piper skirling dolorously as a flag-draped casket is slowly marched on the shoulders of companions-in-arms into the bay of a waiting transport plane.
Master Cpl. Mike Meagher played the bagpipes when the first ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield was held for Pte. Braun Woodfield of Eastern Passage, N.S., in November 2005 and again for diplomat Glyn Berry when he died two months later.
Since then he has participated in more than 30 similar farewells for Canadian, American and Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan.
"This is a responsibility, a duty and an honour," said Meagher, who thought he would give the bagpipes "a kick" when he joined the army 22 years ago because of his mixed Scottish-Irish heritage. "When a ceremony is done correctly here there is often an emotional response, particularly for those who were directly involved.
"Even if you know the person who has died, as I did the first time here because he was in my company, once you start playing you don't tend to dwell on that. The quality of sound is what you think of."
There are seven Canadian pipers serving in Kandahar at the moment. Most military pipers know about 400 tunes, but what has been played most often at ramp ceremonies in Kandahar is the 18th-century British hymn, Amazing Grace.
Flowers of the Field, the traditional lament for fallen soldiers, has also been played at times. However, Meagher believes that it is more appropriately played at gravesides because it is not a slow march, which is suited to ramp ceremonies because it allows pallbearers to find a proper marching cadence.
Assigned to Canada's air wing at the airfield, the 40-year-old from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., is eight months into a 10-month tour, his third in Afghanistan in five years. He has also frequently played at repatriation ceremonies at CFB Trenton when Canadians killed in Afghanistan first return to home soil.
Playing bagpipes on a blistering tarmac in southern Afghanistan involves special challenges.
"It is definitely more difficult to play here. Temperature is a factor," Meagher said of this extremely arid region where the thermometer in summer sometimes reaches 60 C. "Bagpipes require a degree of moisture and that is not present in this atmosphere. I add water to my bag."
Bagpipes have been part of the culture of Scotland's warring clans as far back as the 11th century and of Highland regiments for centuries.
The French and Dutch militaries have pipe bands. So do the Royal Gurkhas and the armies of several Gulf states including Oman. Many Canadian regiments have pipe and drum bands, although only one regular force battalion, 2 Royal Canadian Regiment, still has a band.
"When the British Empire marched across the world, the pipers went along," Meagher said. "As many have said, bagpipes are an instrument of war. They inspire men to fight and lament those who have died. Regardless of what country's military plays them, they have become synonymous with war."
What Meagher plays in Kandahar is a military-issue Great Highland Bagpipe.
The ramp ceremonies and the pipers' central part in them, had become the iconic image of war in Canada "because they provide a snippet or snapshot for the media of what is going on," he said. "We couldn't possibly have done this during World War II because there were so many casualties.
"I don't know how practical it is, but it is a show of deep respect. I am a piper. A soldier has died, so I must play."
link
(Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act
