Episode 06 - The Long Way Home
Canadian soldiers wounded in Afghanistan get superb medical care -- and the dead are treated with dignity. Everybody is brought home.
The final episode of War Story: Afghanistan is about the recovery of wounded soldiers, the grief of those left behind when a loved one is killed, and the way that Canadians cared for both the injured and the dead.
A young Talib drives an axe into the head of Capt Trevor Greene as he sits drinking tea. His comrades believe he is dead, but extraordinary medical care, the love of his family, and his own determination mean that, while struggling with brain injury, he is remarkably well in function and spirit.
We also follow MCpl Paul Franklin, a medic who is himself terribly wounded in a suicide attack, one leg blown off and the other ruined. Paul too is determined to recover and walk his son to school -- he tells his story with great humour.
One of the nurses who treats Paul is Lt Sarah Keller. She movingly speaks of when she found out that her husband was killed in a firefight, and how she brought him home. Another medic tells of how hard it was to bring his friend, killed in action, back to Canada.
Weaving these stories together is Capt Wayne Johnston, the man in charge of the final journey home for the dead. He praises Canadians for their spontaneous display of caring in the unique Highway of Heroes phenomenon.
Not all is well though with those in long term recovery. Paul Franklin is highly critical of Veterans’ Affairs Canada. And Trevor Greene has wrestled with PTSD – one among many. Wayne Johnston reminds us it is better to care for those left behind than to build memorials to war.
