There was a very large scar on it in between the tines of the spherical mine. The US determined according to winds and drift that the mine was struck by our ship. Maybe this means little in the grand scheme of things, but that mine would have damaged, destroyed, or killed the ship and crew. At the time, this was something everyone knew and did not reflect too much on. Peacekeeping has many perils.
War has many more.
What we were actually doing as participants over there is very similar to actual peacekeeping that was done so many years by the Canadian Armed Forces, and is now being conducted in Croatia. No actual combat was recorded at sea for the Navy, so in many ways, we were again just what we have been in many theatres. This poem was written by Ronda Spencer-Lee, in 1987 when she was in school, in memory of her father, MCpl. Ronald C. Spencer, who was killed while on duty with Canadian Peacekeeping Forces, stationed in Cairo, Egypt. Ronda was only 4 years old at the time her father died.