In the name of peace
Former RCMP officer Gerry White says the sacrifice is enormous
Canada has a prominent and respected role in the world’s peacekeeping missions – but it comes at a price.
According to Gerry White, a few months ago, a new group was formed called the Society of Atlantic Heroes.
But he has his own notion of what a hero is.
“If you ask anyone standing against this wall of sandbags here,” he said, indicating a long line of veterans, “they will tell you that the heroes are either still over there duking it out, or they’re in the ground. The rest of us are survivors, not heroes.”
White is a retired naval and RCMP officer. He spoke on the role of RCMP and peacekeeping at the recent International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers ceremony, at Veterans Memorial Park in Bass River.
White’s first peacekeeping mission was in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, almost 25 years ago. He’s had his share of harrowing experiences.
“I was part of exhuming a million and a half bodies, mostly women and children,” he said.
In the aftermath of such tragedies, peacekeepers also have a role, giving evidence at war crimes tribunals. “That’s what policemen are good at, putting bad people away.”
Since 1989, more than 3,000 UN Peacekeepers have lost their lives. Many others came back wounded, White said, on the outside and the inside.
White quoted Mahatma Gandhi, who said: “No war ever results in peace. They do not bring peace, they simply bring an end to war.”
As well as RCMP, White spoke of the municipal and provincial police members who serve as peacekeepers, along with civilian personnel.
Darfur in the Sudan and Cyprus are among previous peacekeeping missions. And Canada’s role can’t be undervalued. “We invented it…. Pardon the personal bias, but I believe we’re pretty damn good at it too,” said White.
Aside from keeping peace, negotiating peace between factions is another responsibility.
Instigators behind such conflicts usually get their just deserts, “and then peace officers go in alongside of military peacekeepers and guard and preserve and protect the ensuing peace.”
White pointed to two RCMP officers, who lost their lives in the service of peace. Sgt. Mark Gallagher was training Haitian police officers in 2010 and went back to Haiti before he was supposed to, after Christmas vacation. His barracks building fell in on top of him in a massive earthquake and he was killed. Supt. Doug Coates, an internationally respected RCMP officer, was killed in the same earthquake when the UN mission building in Haiti collapsed.
Without trivializing the contribution of those who go and fight wars, especially those who make the ultimate sacrifice, White said, “The sacrifice is enormous.”
Many non-government organizations – OXFAM, CARE, Red Cross, among them – rely on peacekeepers to ensure they can provide aid during times of strife.
“Somewhere there will be a military man with an M-16 watching over them,” White said. “Somewhere in the near vicinity will be a peace officer who may even be watching over military men.”
White once had 85 Philippine marines responsible for his safety. On another occasion, it was 32 members of the Garda Síochána, the Irish national police.
“You have not been protected until you’ve been protected by a bunch of Irish cops,” he quipped.
White told the gathering to remember the contributions made by peace officers, and to “… keep them in your hearts and minds, as well.”