Carolyn Wishart

Serving with NATO and being new in the Military did not seem like a Peacekeeping Mission. Later in my career I realized it was but not as intense as the Middle East. I met many interesting people of many backgrounds. The people that appreciated the Canadians most were the Dutch and Austrians. They could not do enough to help when you needed assistance of any kind. They are very friendly and kind people.

My tour in the Middle East was very educational. I went with the attitude of seeing and learning all I could about Egypt, and I met many interesting people from the country as well as from the many other troop contributing countries on the peacekeeping mission. Many of the Egyptian people liked having us there, but a few others shot at us while we were in our Camp. Luckily no one got hurt. 

There were fun times and tense times. On one occasion, the dentist went to pull a tooth one day and there was not one instrument in the drawer, so he had to improvise with pliers. Another fun time was riding a young camel in Aswan. This was my second time on a camel, but this one took off on the run and wasn’t caught for a mile. It was the first time he had run off and it took the camel driver by surprise. I guess my yelling to stop him didn’t help.

Another time, four of us from the medical unit went to Cairo for the day. On the way back we had a flat tire on the jeep. Unfortunately, this just happened to be at dusk in front of an Egyptian Army Camp and the soldiers were getting restless. By the time Corporal Karen Klassen had the tire changed, we were getting a bit tense, as the time was getting close to when we should be back at camp, but we arrived just as the search patrol was getting ready to come and look for us. All turned out well.

On another occasion, we flew into Tel Aviv and waited and waited for our transport. We found out later, at the hotel, that we were the last ones out of the airport before it was locked down. There had been suitcase bomber and both he and the guard were blown up. We never heard a thing. So close and so fortunate!

There was the time a few of us went to Port Said and guards at a checkpoint would not let us out of the City. It was lunchtime and everything was closed. I remembered one of the shop owners had said his brother-in-law was a high-ranking official on the Port Police, so we went back to see “Johnny”. The guys went with him and I was left to look after the store. We got the papers the guards wanted and then were invited to see the Contingent Security Officer at our base camp when we got back “home”.

By the time I returned to Canada, after my peacekeeping tour was finished, it felt like we were making a bit of a difference and it made one feel good. There have been many positive changes since that time.

Since my retirement I have been a Beaver Leader, a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Southern New Brunswick Branch of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association. I was personally awarded the CPVA Canadian Peacekeeper of the Year Award for 2020, and our Chapter was presented with the Best Recruiting Chapter of the Year Award for the sixth year in a row.

Our Chapter is being recognized by the Province of New Brunswick and Premier Blaine Higgs for offering a helping hand to low-income seniors and single parents, and for the help we provide Military and RCMP Veterans with obtaining Veteran benefits. 

Bravo Zulu to those who have Served and those still Serving.