George consults with staff member
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
FROM THE HOUR:
This is Master Corporal Paul Franklin and his son Simon. Franklin lost both his legs in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan that left a Canadian diplomat, and at least two Afghans dead. Franklin never saw his attacker.
When he returned home, his son Simon offered to cut the legs off his G.I. Joe doll.
Paul Franklin is still recovering. He'll be on the show on March 27th at a special time - 9pm - to talk about the war and how it's affected his life. A bunch of you sent in questions, and we put some of them to Paul Franklin, watch it tonight on The Hour
FROM ME:
Thanks for a chance to contribute more than harsh, venomous bile, Paul.
NINE QUESTIONS FOR CPL. PAUL FRANKLIN:
How long has it been?
Several hundred Canadian soldiers have been injured in this war, some have died.
But few have gone public about their injuries and experiences.
Why have you?
This terrible event has changed your life, your future.
It has also affected everyone who knows you.
How has it changed your own family.
Do you feel less of a man?
Do you keep a lot of things to yourself?
Being in a real war, in very real of risk of losing your life, is certainly a higher reality than any of us experience living in a safe city.
This may sound strange but, do you miss it?
Would you allow your son to go to war?
Is it peacekeeping, or is it just a different kind of war?
Will you be going on "Dancing With The Stars"?
FROM PAUL FRANKLIN:
As you guys watch the show you will see many of the questions that you asked answered on the show. War is a horrific thing and yet at times important politically,socially and even yes economically.
My goal is not to debate the merits of such things. My goal is to be a dad and be a husband and along the way become better. Better at walking, a better human being, maybe help others, change how an amputee is treated and retained. The canadian armed forces has treated me very well and although as anyone who has gone through the medical system knows there are hicups. My mission (among many) is to make the hicups smaller.
The mission in afghanistan is complex. But deep down it was the afghans themselves that asked us there. We are helping them.
Canada has one of the best armed forces and as such is the envy of the other worlds armys. This isn't bravado....we are. Ask a british soldier forgotten on the fields in helmend province and not supplied for weeks....who supplied and helped them...canada.....or maybe the american special forces who last year needed canadian help. They got it in the form of 1 PPCLI...they destroyed the bad guys.
People often ask how you can tell who the bad guys are...its easy if hey are shooting at you they are bad....if they aren't they need our help.
Some day we will look at these times...Afghan army soldier and Canadian Soldier standing side by side in some other war torn country. The bonds we make today will last longer than our lives. Afghanistan and Canada are bonded by blood and we will always be there for each other.
And to the last comment....will I take back this life for one with legs.....never. This is it. I will fight this life, live this life and exceed in this life with this body and the tools that I have. Wheelchair and prosthetics.....besides they are in better shape then the rest of my body....and they have a warrenty!!!!
Master corporal Paul Franklin
1 Field Ambulance
Edmonton
Ptepaul@yahoo.co.uk
FROM ME:
It's only been a couple of days since the interview, so maybe Paul F. is still checking this blog to see further reaction to his appearance. I could just write him directly, but where's the fun in that for the rest of you?
Paul did a lot of smiling during the interview, so I assume he has not lost his sense of humour.
When The Hour contacted me directly to give me an opportunity to come up with questions for Paul, I gave serious thought to what I would ask him myself in a public forum, and submitted them as you have seen earlier.
Interviewing someone who is an amputee is not a task that anyone looks forward to doing. It's tricky. Someone else who is an amputee would be more ideally suited to the task, using their own insights and sensitivity.
Much of the information presented during the interview did touch on a few of the same areas I had brought up.
But one question near the end stood out, and it made reference to the Hour's blog and having been drawn from that.
After reviewing the few posts, which are here for all to see, I conclude that the question "are you a real man?" was derived from my list.
But for some reason George chose to phrase it quite differently, almost treating it with disgust.
It disappoints me, but doesn't surprise.
The clear impression is that generally the Hour thinks it is smarter and more clever than the people who comprise their audience.
But the question "are you a real man" is pretty stupid, and did not need to be asked.
And no one did, except George, and he decided to blame someone else for coming up with it.
This is journalism as practiced at The Hour.
Despite boldly declaring that NEWS LIES, the Hour itself seems to have little interest in accuracy.
My question had been quite different than the one George posed. Or is he claiming that it's the same thing?
Ask a real journalist, there's a few at the CBC, if they consider the question to be the same.
I had asked "do you feel less of a man?", which would have solicited a different response than being asked "are you a real man?"
The answer to the second question is self-evident, and I can't imagine why it would be necessary to ask it.
The first question, I think, explores something important, and could have yielded considerable insight about the circumstances and thoughts of someone who has endured, and continues to endure, a tragedy in their lives. Particularly for a soldier, for whom bravery is kind of a prominent characteristic of the job. (it's of course a lot more than what we normally think of when we call something a "job")
I think it's important, if only for Paul himself, to know that no one, absolutely no one, is questioning if a war hero is a man, a real man.
I think any doubts about that were fully answered when Master Cpl. Franklin walked on to that plane that carried him to Afghanistan.
On that day alone, he was more of "a man" than anyone writing on this blog.
So it was George alone who made up a question no one asked, and blamed a blogger.
When The Hour says NEWS LIES, they're not kidding
FROM PAUL FRANKLIN:
"do you feel less of a man?",
The answer is the same.
To chris and all my friends that have supported me over the years and have drunk a beer with me. Thank you.
A show is a show its meant to entertain and provoke interest and comment.
Life is not an internet blog or an amputee recovering from a horrific injury. Its only part fo who and what we do.
Questions such as "do you feel less of a man?", are common and are often asked and yet will always yield the same response. If it is asked of a women then it to becomes the same response. Body parts do not make a person. Its who and what you do with your life that makes one stand up.
My quest to return to who I was is not fair...I will never be that same person. but the person inside is the same. I dont hold the bitterness that many vets have, that many amps or disabled people have. I have issues that I have to deal with and in life I have chosen to wear some on my sleeve and show what really goes on in the minds of those injured in war and those who find themselves in mid stream of life suddenly changed.
What makes a man?
What makes a women?
What makes a citizen?
What makes you human?
These are questions that anyone can ask and that no one can ever take ownership from.
In defense of the Hour.... I have been on many programs and have been interviewed by many people. The research and the background down by the staff at the Hour has been top notch. There are many orginizations that do not do that... A google search and thats it.
The staff at the Hour did well and I am proud of the interview.
Thank you again to the producers and the staff plus thanks to George for his help through some difficult questions that needed to be asked.
I have a comment at the end of my work email......
"Every step is painful and the walk is slow, but then you look behind and realize how far you have come."
Please contact me.
I am trying to help change the world.....a little bit at a time.
ptepaul@yahoo.co.uk
FROM ME
Well, Paul, that's the response I expected, but not the one I had hoped for.
It's kind of a no-brainer that you would defend and be grateful to the media that you depend on to spread your message.
Though this is not really a matter of taking sides.
It's early for you, Paul, and some of your understanding and insights are still evolving. I think most people will give you a fair amount of leeway in what you have to say, and will be looking for ideas and views that may be helpful in their daily lives, whether amputees or not.
I did some research about you, more than Google, before writing out my questions, and once spent time with a friend who had lost all his fingers, which made it harder for him to become the next Jimi Hendrix. But he still tried to get the guitar pick to stay between his knuckles.
The question I posed may be "common", but the point is to hear how YOU respond, and that response may be "uncommon".
The answer to George's question is generally expected to be "yes". The answer to my question is very likely "no".
But it is not the same for everyone, and so I think it deserves to be asked.
The reasons given for the above answers may be the same.
You've sat privately with other veterans, next to them in their hospital bed as they face a new reality for their lives and their families.
You've referred to some of them as being bitter. You've said there are many of them.
Whether it was a war or a car accident that forever altered their lives makes no difference.
Indeed, Paul, what is the point of your visiting these men and women if not to give comfort and hope for the long journey ahead?
I've read the books from Rick Hansen and Terry Fox.
(seems to me that it's always nut-caseses from BC who come up with the big dreams - must be the ocean air)
I've met Rick. He's a very manly man, and has a great sense of humour.
Few of us are in his league. He's exceptional, though he was once ordinary and just goofing around with his life like a lot of us.
Today, I'd nominate him to be the next Governor General.
Your answer to my real question was pretty good, and you'll probably be giving it again many times in the years ahead.
Frankly, I was more curious to see how much you believed it.
(and I'll always hope that you do :) )
A
This is Master Corporal Paul Franklin and his son Simon. Franklin lost both his legs in a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan that left a Canadian diplomat, and at least two Afghans dead. Franklin never saw his attacker.
When he returned home, his son Simon offered to cut the legs off his G.I. Joe doll.
Paul Franklin is still recovering. He'll be on the show on March 27th at a special time - 9pm - to talk about the war and how it's affected his life. A bunch of you sent in questions, and we put some of them to Paul Franklin, watch it tonight on The Hour
FROM ME:
Thanks for a chance to contribute more than harsh, venomous bile, Paul.
NINE QUESTIONS FOR CPL. PAUL FRANKLIN:
How long has it been?
Several hundred Canadian soldiers have been injured in this war, some have died.
But few have gone public about their injuries and experiences.
Why have you?
This terrible event has changed your life, your future.
It has also affected everyone who knows you.
How has it changed your own family.
Do you feel less of a man?
Do you keep a lot of things to yourself?
Being in a real war, in very real of risk of losing your life, is certainly a higher reality than any of us experience living in a safe city.
This may sound strange but, do you miss it?
Would you allow your son to go to war?
Is it peacekeeping, or is it just a different kind of war?
Will you be going on "Dancing With The Stars"?
FROM PAUL FRANKLIN:
As you guys watch the show you will see many of the questions that you asked answered on the show. War is a horrific thing and yet at times important politically,socially and even yes economically.
My goal is not to debate the merits of such things. My goal is to be a dad and be a husband and along the way become better. Better at walking, a better human being, maybe help others, change how an amputee is treated and retained. The canadian armed forces has treated me very well and although as anyone who has gone through the medical system knows there are hicups. My mission (among many) is to make the hicups smaller.
The mission in afghanistan is complex. But deep down it was the afghans themselves that asked us there. We are helping them.
Canada has one of the best armed forces and as such is the envy of the other worlds armys. This isn't bravado....we are. Ask a british soldier forgotten on the fields in helmend province and not supplied for weeks....who supplied and helped them...canada.....or maybe the american special forces who last year needed canadian help. They got it in the form of 1 PPCLI...they destroyed the bad guys.
People often ask how you can tell who the bad guys are...its easy if hey are shooting at you they are bad....if they aren't they need our help.
Some day we will look at these times...Afghan army soldier and Canadian Soldier standing side by side in some other war torn country. The bonds we make today will last longer than our lives. Afghanistan and Canada are bonded by blood and we will always be there for each other.
And to the last comment....will I take back this life for one with legs.....never. This is it. I will fight this life, live this life and exceed in this life with this body and the tools that I have. Wheelchair and prosthetics.....besides they are in better shape then the rest of my body....and they have a warrenty!!!!
Master corporal Paul Franklin
1 Field Ambulance
Edmonton
Ptepaul@yahoo.co.uk
FROM ME:
It's only been a couple of days since the interview, so maybe Paul F. is still checking this blog to see further reaction to his appearance. I could just write him directly, but where's the fun in that for the rest of you?
Paul did a lot of smiling during the interview, so I assume he has not lost his sense of humour.
When The Hour contacted me directly to give me an opportunity to come up with questions for Paul, I gave serious thought to what I would ask him myself in a public forum, and submitted them as you have seen earlier.
Interviewing someone who is an amputee is not a task that anyone looks forward to doing. It's tricky. Someone else who is an amputee would be more ideally suited to the task, using their own insights and sensitivity.
Much of the information presented during the interview did touch on a few of the same areas I had brought up.
But one question near the end stood out, and it made reference to the Hour's blog and having been drawn from that.
After reviewing the few posts, which are here for all to see, I conclude that the question "are you a real man?" was derived from my list.
But for some reason George chose to phrase it quite differently, almost treating it with disgust.
It disappoints me, but doesn't surprise.
The clear impression is that generally the Hour thinks it is smarter and more clever than the people who comprise their audience.
But the question "are you a real man" is pretty stupid, and did not need to be asked.
And no one did, except George, and he decided to blame someone else for coming up with it.
This is journalism as practiced at The Hour.
Despite boldly declaring that NEWS LIES, the Hour itself seems to have little interest in accuracy.
My question had been quite different than the one George posed. Or is he claiming that it's the same thing?
Ask a real journalist, there's a few at the CBC, if they consider the question to be the same.
I had asked "do you feel less of a man?", which would have solicited a different response than being asked "are you a real man?"
The answer to the second question is self-evident, and I can't imagine why it would be necessary to ask it.
The first question, I think, explores something important, and could have yielded considerable insight about the circumstances and thoughts of someone who has endured, and continues to endure, a tragedy in their lives. Particularly for a soldier, for whom bravery is kind of a prominent characteristic of the job. (it's of course a lot more than what we normally think of when we call something a "job")
I think it's important, if only for Paul himself, to know that no one, absolutely no one, is questioning if a war hero is a man, a real man.
I think any doubts about that were fully answered when Master Cpl. Franklin walked on to that plane that carried him to Afghanistan.
On that day alone, he was more of "a man" than anyone writing on this blog.
So it was George alone who made up a question no one asked, and blamed a blogger.
When The Hour says NEWS LIES, they're not kidding
FROM PAUL FRANKLIN:
"do you feel less of a man?",
The answer is the same.
To chris and all my friends that have supported me over the years and have drunk a beer with me. Thank you.
A show is a show its meant to entertain and provoke interest and comment.
Life is not an internet blog or an amputee recovering from a horrific injury. Its only part fo who and what we do.
Questions such as "do you feel less of a man?", are common and are often asked and yet will always yield the same response. If it is asked of a women then it to becomes the same response. Body parts do not make a person. Its who and what you do with your life that makes one stand up.
My quest to return to who I was is not fair...I will never be that same person. but the person inside is the same. I dont hold the bitterness that many vets have, that many amps or disabled people have. I have issues that I have to deal with and in life I have chosen to wear some on my sleeve and show what really goes on in the minds of those injured in war and those who find themselves in mid stream of life suddenly changed.
What makes a man?
What makes a women?
What makes a citizen?
What makes you human?
These are questions that anyone can ask and that no one can ever take ownership from.
In defense of the Hour.... I have been on many programs and have been interviewed by many people. The research and the background down by the staff at the Hour has been top notch. There are many orginizations that do not do that... A google search and thats it.
The staff at the Hour did well and I am proud of the interview.
Thank you again to the producers and the staff plus thanks to George for his help through some difficult questions that needed to be asked.
I have a comment at the end of my work email......
"Every step is painful and the walk is slow, but then you look behind and realize how far you have come."
Please contact me.
I am trying to help change the world.....a little bit at a time.
ptepaul@yahoo.co.uk
FROM ME
Well, Paul, that's the response I expected, but not the one I had hoped for.
It's kind of a no-brainer that you would defend and be grateful to the media that you depend on to spread your message.
Though this is not really a matter of taking sides.
It's early for you, Paul, and some of your understanding and insights are still evolving. I think most people will give you a fair amount of leeway in what you have to say, and will be looking for ideas and views that may be helpful in their daily lives, whether amputees or not.
I did some research about you, more than Google, before writing out my questions, and once spent time with a friend who had lost all his fingers, which made it harder for him to become the next Jimi Hendrix. But he still tried to get the guitar pick to stay between his knuckles.
The question I posed may be "common", but the point is to hear how YOU respond, and that response may be "uncommon".
The answer to George's question is generally expected to be "yes". The answer to my question is very likely "no".
But it is not the same for everyone, and so I think it deserves to be asked.
The reasons given for the above answers may be the same.
You've sat privately with other veterans, next to them in their hospital bed as they face a new reality for their lives and their families.
You've referred to some of them as being bitter. You've said there are many of them.
Whether it was a war or a car accident that forever altered their lives makes no difference.
Indeed, Paul, what is the point of your visiting these men and women if not to give comfort and hope for the long journey ahead?
I've read the books from Rick Hansen and Terry Fox.
(seems to me that it's always nut-caseses from BC who come up with the big dreams - must be the ocean air)
I've met Rick. He's a very manly man, and has a great sense of humour.
Few of us are in his league. He's exceptional, though he was once ordinary and just goofing around with his life like a lot of us.
Today, I'd nominate him to be the next Governor General.
Your answer to my real question was pretty good, and you'll probably be giving it again many times in the years ahead.
Frankly, I was more curious to see how much you believed it.
(and I'll always hope that you do :) )
A
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