Tim pats the seat on the couch beside him. “Sit down,” he says, “we’ll watch The Siege of Jadotville, it was released on Netflix today.” I take my place despite reservations. As a rule, I avoid war movies. But this one was about the Irish Army’s A Company, 35th Battalion, serving in the Congo in 1961.
Tim pats the seat on the couch beside him. “Sit down,” he says, “we’ll watch The Siege of Jadotville, it was released on Netflix today.”
I take my place despite reservations. As a rule, I avoid war movies. But this one was about the Irish Army’s A Company, 35th Battalion, serving in the Congo in 1961.
There were 159 soldiers in the camp led by Commandant Pat Quinlan. They were repeatedly attacked over five days by several thousand mercenaries and their Katangan allies.
It was tough watching for an Irish army mother. Commandant Quinlan brought all his men home alive, despite some 400 casualties on the other side.
Aileen, Philip’s girlfriend, comes in to say hello. She glances at the TV screen and quickly looks away. “No, I wouldn’t be able for that,” she says.
I understand perfectly. I’m rigid in the seat. Tim tells her about the film. Incredulously, she says: “I’ve just been talking to Philip and he’s watching the same movie now.”
That tells something about the connection between father and son. It does illustrate how things have changed and the solace that regular communication brings. But there is nothing to fill the void of human touch.
Apparently these men, in 1961, were rumoured to have surrendered and were consequently shunned on their return home. It was many years before they were properly recognised.
The following night Tim pats the cushion again. “Will we watch Jadotville again?” I decline. Tim asks why. I explain that with Philip in Lebanon I’m just not able to watch it without getting emotional and missing him. He doesn’t understand that the missing goes on.
GOOD NEWS FROM LEBANON
I will never forget sitting on the little wall in front of James Stephens Barracks in Kilkenny, talking to Lt Colonel Stephen Ryan, the officer who would command the 53rd Infantry Group.
I remember his confidence, and somehow my chat with him put my mind at ease. Army personnel are focussed. It is a massive opportunity to serve abroad, and they are trained to react appropriately. Nevertheless, they work in an extremely tense situation.
While I communicate with Philip every few days and even send the odd package, I knew very little about his work or his colleagues. It just wasn’t discussed. That’s army training too. It’s only as they near home time that I’m beginning to hear about his duties and gleaning a better understanding of his role in Lebanon.
The 53rd Infantry Group is responsible for 14 villages, which are patrolled on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. They are embedded with Finnish and Estonian troops.
The whole group is known as FINIRISHBATT. Its mission is, briefly, to monitor the cessation of hostilities in the area, to support the government of Lebanon to extend its full authority throughout the FINIRISHBATT’s area of responsibility by supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and to assist the local population by contributing to a safe environment.
Lt Philip O’Leary, Irish staff officer (SO) is part of the CIMIC cell responsible for civil-military cooperation with the local population and its civic leaders, the government and other bodies, with a view to strengthening the self-sustainability of society and enabling the military mission.
The business of CIMIC is to foster UNIFIL’s acceptance and create conditions for the hand-over of responsibility to the LAF. The Cell consists of Irish CIMIC Chief Comdt Greg O’Keeffe from Waterford, who is on his eighth tour to Lebanon, and Finnish Deputy Chief Capt Juha Kallio and Finnish SO Lt Auli Rossi.
Though the four never met before arriving in Lebanon, they have travelled thousands of kilometres together and have become firm friends as well as professional colleagues. Imagine too, that these men and women have never seen each other in civilian clothes. It’s just uniform.
THE WORK OF CIMIC
With the joint Irish/Finnish budget of over $200,000 they have installed generators to provide power to homes that previously had only six hours’ electricity per day.
They have installed water purification plants for people who had no clean water. They have restored agricultural water ponds to aid farmers with serious water security issues.
Philip, driven by his farming background, has even made contact with a dairy enterprise in the village of Aytarun and the cell is currently looking at ways in which it can assist the farmers who supply this dairy. (I think this explains why I’ve suddenly been given any army news by Philip.)
These dairy operators, predominately women, need training and monetary aid to develop their small business. The farmers need refrigerated tanks.
If you’re in the agricultural community and have any ideas, then do email me, please. I believe the community would benefit hugely from a few people in an advisory role spending some time there.
According to Chief Comdt Greg O’Keeffe: “Farming in South Lebanon is not for the faint hearted.”
Many of the other numerous activities that the cell is involved in are no-cost or low-cost but make a huge difference to the lives of the people there.
A lot of work through sporting activities is also undertaken to build up the trust with the communities for the future acceptance of army operations.
The bottom line is that the UNIFIL presence has made it a safer place for the Lebanese people to live. There is enormous satisfaction in that for every Irish soldier.
The group will return home at the end of November. Once the halfway mark passed, the countdown to home began here and in Lebanon.
It’s amazing how much can change in six months, from family stuff to farming and even country wide. CL
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