Al4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Soldiers celebrate

Christmas in

By SERGEANT

JORDAN BUJTAS

From Terrace, Sergeaitt
Jordan BUJTAS is a reserv-
ist with the Canadian Scor-
tish Regiment, currenily
serving a six-month peace-
keeping taur in Bosnia.

I'm currently in a multi-
national camp so the dif-
ferent groups have. differ-
ent activities planned for
Christmas.

The Dutch recently had
a St. Nick parade with old
St. Nick and a couple of
elves running around the
base handing out candy
and cookies. That evening
they had a dinner and a
. party in their mess
(bar/lounge).

‘On Christmas day very
few of them will be work-
ing and they will attend
the Chrisimas dinners
being held by the U.K.
contingent.On Dec. 14,
the Canadians in the camp
had a Christmas dinner for
the soldiers in addition to
attending the U.K. dinners
on Christmas day.

I, however, will be
working, Our platoon is re-
sponsible for the security
of our base, thus some of
us have to work.

It is tradition that the
seniar noncommissioned
officers and officers take

the duties of the privates -

and corporals during
Christmas Day. I am the
the duty guard commander
on Christmas Day so it
will be interesting. Instead
of having my boys man-
ning the gate | will have
officers and other NCOs
who normally work in of-
fices out on the gate in-
stead,

This week [’m saving
my two weekly phone
calls for Christmas Day so
I can call my girlfriend in
Edmonton and my family
in Terrace. Should
my Christmas presents ar-
Tive in time Pll open them
at the gate prior to phon-
ing.

The Christmas decora-
tions (well, the five that
we have) are up in the
guard buildings and we re-
ceived our first snow last
week. And that’s how we
will celebrate Christmas
this year.

The majority of the lo-
cals in the Banja Luka
area where we are are Ser-
bian and they are Eastern
Orthedox. For the children,
it’s St. Nick, not Santa

Ty

Bosnia

SERGEANT JORDAN BUJTAS of Terrace will be on
guard duty Christmas Day at a multi-national
‘peacekeeping base in Banja Luka, Bosnia. His
headgear is that of his regiment, the Canadian
Scottish and is called a tam o’ shanter.

Clause and he comes by
before Christmas Day.

Other than that, Christ-
mas is very similar here to
home. It is just not so
commercialized, which is
nice.

The remainder of the
locals are Muslim who do
nat_ celebrate
Christmas. However,
they have just recently ce-
lebrated Ramadan which
isa celebration of the
month in which the Koran
was “sent down form
Heaven.” During this per-
iod Muslims concentrate
on their faith and spend
less time on the concerns
of their everyday lives.

This holiday is obsetved
by fasting during the days
of the period of Ramadan.
Only evening meals are
consumed,

This is my first Christ-
mas in Bosnia, my last
tour was a summer tour
with 3 Battalion, Princess
Patricia’s Canadian Light
Infantry.

As each year goes by
more and more infrastruc-
ture is added which makes
the lives of the soldiers
more comfortable.

As the size of the stabi-
lization force decreases
we find ourselves working
longer and longer hours to
cover greater amounts of
area than before, This tour
that [I’m on has 500 sold-
iers less than we did two
years ago but we are re-
sponsible for more area
as other nations have left
the mission, We are very
busy.

Life for the locals is
changing slowly. The
economy is slowly pro-
pressing but it is domina-
ted by the black market
and local mafia. The aver-
age person is out of work
and lives off what they
grow on their properties.

Bosnia is the poorest
nation in Europe and the
90th poorest nation in the
world. The area is growing
more secure by the year
and the local police for-
ces are becoming more
professional than
they have been in the past.

However, there are still
troubles here. The govern-
ment is very shaky and
the different ethnic groups
(at the national level)
do not work very well to-
gether.

I volunteered for this
second tour for [ like the
work and what we are
doing here. It is nice to
know what we are doing
has a positive effect on
most peoples’ lives.

Many of the locals trust
us, the stabilization farce,
more than they do their
local police or
government. Our presence
makes pecple feel the se-
cure, especially the elder-
ly.

As well | was offered a
very good position, section
commander. Very
few command positions
are made available to re-
servisls (all the soldiers in
my company are resery-
ists) so it may very well
be a once in a lifetime op-
portunity.

Ge:

} s from Terrace &

District Credit Union]

ig’ up best wishes fora
day! Hope your stockings

igs

naar

ar

ms

Spon

Mersy Christinas j

May the joys and good will fill your

em

fg hearts and home this holiday season.

Fhcaleth Fashions 4

4609 Lakelse, Terrace 635-4211

a A

ia ‘2

On behalf of all the members of
Terrace Elks Lodge No. 425. We extend
to everyone in our community greetings for
a very Merry Christmas. May the New Year |
bring you joy and happiness. =:
Also our sincere thanks for supporting
our charities over the years.

We lock fovwerd LO SOLE
YOR tt the New Gear!
ae Ee
Justin & Stacy Gyger © Gill & Tanya McKean
ee

638-0444

4833 Lazelle Avenue, Terrace
Ph. 635-2157 Fax: 635-2988 TOLL FREE (877)-635-2157.

fon

Have a sate and prosperous New Year!

aS

"4631 Keith avenue, Terrace’ 635-FAST (3278) _

y1e

Terrace Totem Ford and Fastlane

wish to express our thanks to all our
customers and friends for your
patronage & hope to see you in 2003.

for your
patronage

SARA

igh Happy
Holiday Season ‘Io You!

Looking forward to serving you in the New Year

_ Northern yes Optieaé
Skeena Mall, Terrace {%e

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pen 7 Days A Week é

_eergcnen uations ae

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a Us aa

The Ladies of the Royal Purple Terrace
wish everyone in our community a Merry

and Joyous Christmas and our sincere
thanks for your support over the years.

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