Retired Captain Trevor Green broke into a humble smile Saturday as he arrived at a Nanaimo memorial to honour Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The first sight of him drew supporters who thanked him for his service that has continued on home soil.
“Yeah, it’s a great honour. He’s been through so much. It’s great to see him fight every step of the way, ” said George Molnar of Legion Branch 256.
“It’s important that people remember that Canadians remember and understand what those of us who survived are going through,” Retired Capt. Trevor Greene told CHEK News.
The peacekeeper was paralyzed and suffered a massive brain injury in an ambush attack in Kandahar province in 2006. The father of two has lived the last 18 years as a powerful advocate and living reminder of the many killed, wounded and still suffering from PTSD, as he does, since returning home from the war in Afghanistan.
“PTSD is awful. You feel like you’re in the grip of this evil monster,” said Greene.
“The military taught them how to put that uniform on, but it didn’t teach them how to take it off. A lot of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder so it’s a very important day,” said Laurie Grubb, president of Legion Branch 256.
This service outside of a Nanaimo Legion Branch 256 Saturday marked the 10-year anniversary of Canada leaving Afghanistan. It was a war that 40,000 Canadians served in, 158 soldiers died and more than 70 committed suicide since returning home from, according to the most recent data that was collected in 2017.
“That’s seven years ago, how many more since then,” said Sgt. Serge Lapierre, who also survived an attack in Afghanistan.
Canadians like Greene tried to bring peace to a war that history has proved was unwinnable.
“Even though we lost the war, we had to try,” said Greene.
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“It’s what they accomplished, women got to go to school. There’s so much good that came from this mission,” said Greene’s wife, Debbie Greene.
So Greene and his wife plan to keep fighting for those Canadian men and women who are still aching from wounds they suffered in Afghanistan, more than a decade after fighting there.
Skye Ryan
