Sights Never Forgotten

Heroes Remember

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Sights Never Forgotten

Transcript

It was very much culture shock. We left in January of 1996 and landed in Split, Croatia and it was just one of these beautiful, beautiful cities that you see in the Mediterranean and we were there for a couple of days for orientation training and getting used to the time zone and then we jumped in the LAV’s, in the vehicles and went east and you know as soon as we started to hit the war-torn countries, you know, it’s something to see a house lifted off its foundation and blown in bits or bodies on the streets or bodies hanging in trees or… you don’t forget those things. I was young and dumb really I was more of a camaraderie type soldier. I felt safe around my other troops. We always felt safe in numbers. Was there any one time where I felt in danger? Ya, we were sniped at and we had to deal with Mujahadeen, the terrorist network a few times. Landmines were everywhere. You know you always have to be vigilant as to what you were doing. Kids carrying shot guns, kids carrying rifles. You never know what you are going to see through the day.

Description

As an infantry soldier, Mike shares his first impressions of a war-torn country and shares a sense of the sights witnessed upon arrival in Croatia.

Michael Thier

Mr. Michael Their was born in Vancouver, B.C. August 30, 1970. Looking at options for a career choice, at age 24 Mike considering himself a late bloomer chose to join the military. Only four days after joining up and being trained an as infantry soldier, Mike was given an opportunity to deploy to Bosnia with IFOR ’96, SFOR ’99 and then to Ethiopia as part of UNMEE in 2001. After a horrific accident turret explosion to the armoured vehicle, Mike received serious facial wounds and after more than twenty surgeries he was given no choice but to be medically released from the military. Suffering with PTSD, Mike continues to struggle yet carries on with a sense of purpose in life and holds great pride in wearing the maple leaf. Mike has been named part of Team Canada for Invictus Games 2018 taking part in the sport of weight lifting and wheelchair basketball. Mike resides in Fredericton, New Brunswick with and family.

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