Events endured in the heat of battle are not always retrieved easily or accurately in the peace that follows. I am grateful to many people who took the time to consult their colleagues, correspondence and diaries to help us clarify what happened when. In particular, we salute David “Buck” Buchanan, Ben Freakley, Mike Gauthier, Bill “Mother” Irving, Allan “Dooner” Muldoon, David Richards, Shane Schreiber, Adam “Seegy” Seegmiller and Mike Wright for helping us make sure that what we have said is true. A quiet nod of thanks to Greg “Mooner” Moon who allowed us to use his haunting photograph of four members of the Posse for our cover.
I thank the talented staff of Stiff in Ottawa for their research, design and the dogged transcription of many dozens of interviews thick with acronyms and foreign place names. James Hanington, Kelsey Hooper, Anna Jackson, Deborah Johnson, Donna Johnson, Sarah MacDonell, Alex Marinelli, Christena Morrell, Lee Pakkala and Glenna Tapper all have our deep gratitude. For thoughtful guidance on the shape and tone of the overall manuscript I thank Jane Burnell. Jane spent many dozens of hours reading successive drafts and graciously endured my constant badgering. For early help in the development of the charts in this book I salute Chester “Terry” Warner of the Canadian Armed Forces Mapping and Charting Establishment, Derek Sarty of Gaynor Sarty in Halifax, Kelly MacKinnon in Kingston, and the staff of World of Maps in Ottawa. Extra notes of thanks go to Lee Pakkala at Stiff who designed the charts appearing on the endpapers inside our front and back covers, and to Christena Morrell at Stiff who ably supported our research in the busy final stages. As my mentor throughout the rotation, Andy Leslie was a true battle buddy whose wise counsel helped make sense of seemingly unmanageable events before, during and following the events described in this book.
I want to thank my co-author Brian Hanington for his patience and good humour listening to hours, days, weeks and months of interviews, explanations of doctrine, and the exciting, the boring and the minutiae of what made up Operation Medusa. Brian has gone from being a well-read civilian to being an honorary member of the Posse. Brian now knows as much as each of us, and his ability to take our thoughts and turn them into words has made the writing of this book possible. He has been a good book fire-team partner. I will always be very appreciative of his efforts. Brian and I owe much to Tom Jenkins, who had the happy thought of suggesting we work together; this volume is but the first result of the partnership trio that Tom made possible. Brian and I had unwavering support throughout from our publishers at McClelland & Stewart, particularly from the quintet of experts who brought this project into being: our colleague and friend Doug Pepper gave us every assistance and encouragement; Kimberlee Hesas managed a complex project within a wildly compressed timeframe; Gemma Wain offered meticulous editorial criticism and guidance that allowed us to improve countless passages in our text; Scott Richardson designed the book with his trademark passion and ingenuity; and Erin Cooper implemented that design in a layout that is elegant and simple.
Above all else, I wish to thank the families who supported all of us over there. In particular, I salute the Fraser family for whom our ordeal in Afghanistan was distressing and in ways destructive. Thank you Poppie, Andrew, Daniel, Marjorie, Ian, and Barb and Regis Gagne. Without the support of our families, none of us could have focused on what was ahead of us, and the constant danger would have been far more difficult to bear. Words will never describe our collective appreciation. I dedicate this book to them.