UNPROFOR, Operation Medak Pocket, 1993, Stephen Williams

Way back in 1993 I found myself in the wreckage of Yugoslavia in a place called Medak. I, like many of the men and women that I served with,  thought nothing of it at a time. Just another place that required us being there, doing a job and then moving along.

I was part of a battlegroup that contained the finest group of young soldiers that Canada had to offer at that point in time. What made it more remarkable was the huge amount of Reservists, like myself, who were actually there. The hump to be selected to go with this battlegroup was a mountain that most of us never got to achieve. Of the 500 Reservists sent to Winnipeg in Jan 1993 I do believe they took less than 137. To say that many of us bled to be selected to go is the God's truth. For a kid like myself from Mount Pearl Nfld I will always be most proud of making the cut.

When Medak happened none of us had the same experience but what we all shared was the raw brutality of a land divided by hate and what ethnic cleansing could do to a people and an land. It was horrible and sometimes it was all we could do was  navigate that place and survive. To say it  was god awful  is a truth few will understand as we know the evil that men can do.

When it was over, in a very short time, we all found ourselves back in Canada amongst our family and friends. So glad that it was over and thankful we had made it back home uninjured,  or so what we thought at the time.

But you know what!  What they didn't tell us about were the wounds that you couldn't see and the scars that would never heal.

I myself remember very little of that time and my section, suffering Six, was in the thick of it. I remember little flashes of it and the time i was actually there seemed like days not a month. Some guys remember it like it happened this morning and some fellows like myself are blessed that our minds won't let us remember.  After five tours I am grateful that my body protects me from the worst of it.

We still suffer after a fashion from that place that we served in all those years ago. It is part of who we are and is ingrained into our DNA in way most don't understand.

I think I have made peace with it nowadays but it still affects me in so many ways that it still colors my life in every way. Just ask my wife Lorraine Williams about the stuff that I have put her through. If I had one wish it would be that she didn't have to put up with me some days, but she is here and the strength that i see from her supports me in ways that she will never know.

For my brothers and sisters who served with me there, tho there are fewer and fewer of us every year  i will say that it was a honour to have served with you all and the highlight of my life.

For those still struggling I encourage you to get the help that you deserve and that you find some well deserved peace of soul and body.

Next summer I have every intention of going back to YUGOSLAVIA on a tour to those bad places. I wanna put some things to bed before I go to that table in Valhalla.  This will help.

Suffering six section, 11 Platoon, Delta Company,  2 PPCLI battlegroup.

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Operation Medak Pocket (Serbo-Croatian: Operacija Medački džep, Операција Медачки џеп), officially called by Croatians Operation Pocket-93 (Operacija Džep-93) was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika region of Croatia then under the control of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina, was attacked by Croatian forces. The pocket was named after the village of Medak.The Croatian offensive temporarily succeeded in expelling rebel Serb forces from the pocket after several days of fighting. However, the operation ended in controversy due to a confrontation between the Croatian Army and United Nations peacekeepers as well as accusations of serious Croatian war crimes against local Serb civilians. Although the outcome of the battle against the Serbs was a tactical victory for the Croatians, it became a serious political liability for the Croatian government and international political pressure forced a withdrawal to the previous ceasefire lines. The area was eventually secured by UN troops.According to UN and Canadian sources, UNPROFOR personnel and Croatian troops exchanged heavy fire, eventually resulting in the Canadian troops driving off a Croatian assault. In Canada, the battle was considered to be one of the most severe battles fought by the Canadian Forces since the Korean War.