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Friendly Fire: The Untold Story of the U.S. Bombing that Killed Four Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan
The text below is an excerpt from Friendly Fire. it is the early morning of April 18, 2002, following the mayhem of a bomb attack on a section of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, outside Kandahar, Afghanistan. the Edmonton-based soldiers were conducting a live-fire training exercise at a former al-Qaeda compound when a U.S. fighter pilot mistook them for the enemy.
At Tarnak Farm, A Company begins to board the trucks that will take them back to camp. Out of habit , Lt. Luft conducts a roll call of his platoon. 1 Section. Here. 2 Section. here 3 Section. Alastair stops himself. there is no 3 section. Except for Cpl. Chris Oliver, the troops are either dead or in the medical tent.
The guys left behind watch the trucks drive away. For nearly two hours, everyone has been operating on instinct, on training. but now, all the noise, all the adrenaline, are gone. It's suddenly real. Four men are dead. Outside the ambulance, Wilson and Speirs are chain-smoking Korea 88s, replaying the chaos and confusion of those first few minutes. could we have been faster? Did we save everyone who could be saved? there will always be doubts...
By now, there is little doubt about what happened. Some of the guys heard the jet. Some even saw it. They don't know the details yet. Nobody really does. but the Taliban doesn't have any F-16s. that was a U.S. bomb.
" How could this happen to us? Sgt. Favasoli asks Cpl. Filis. how could this happen to coalition forces?"
At Tarnak Farm, A Company begins to board the trucks that will take them back to camp. Out of habit , Lt. Luft conducts a roll call of his platoon. 1 Section. Here. 2 Section. here 3 Section. Alastair stops himself. there is no 3 section. Except for Cpl. Chris Oliver, the troops are either dead or in the medical tent.
The guys left behind watch the trucks drive away. For nearly two hours, everyone has been operating on instinct, on training. but now, all the noise, all the adrenaline, are gone. It's suddenly real. Four men are dead. Outside the ambulance, Wilson and Speirs are chain-smoking Korea 88s, replaying the chaos and confusion of those first few minutes. could we have been faster? Did we save everyone who could be saved? there will always be doubts...
By now, there is little doubt about what happened. Some of the guys heard the jet. Some even saw it. They don't know the details yet. Nobody really does. but the Taliban doesn't have any F-16s. that was a U.S. bomb.
" How could this happen to us? Sgt. Favasoli asks Cpl. Filis. how could this happen to coalition forces?"
- GenresMilitary FictionCanada
596 pages, Hardcover
First published November 18, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 31, 2021
As a patriotic Canadian, I began reading this book assuming I would have feelings of loathing towards Majors Schmidt and Umbach, Surprisingly, I finished the book empathizing with the two pilots, while not agreeing entirely with their explanations for their behaviour on April 18, 2002.
The reason why I was in a position to feel any empathy at all was due to how Michael Friscolanti chose to write this book. Noting his Canadian citizenship, it would have been easy for this writer to slant the narrative in favour of how he would think his fellow countrymen and countrywomen might expect. That would be a story that quickly establishes blame to the United States Air Force and the innocence of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
However, I felt Friscolanti remained an unbiased observer throughout the book. The families of the victims, members of the Canadian military, and the participants of the court martials that followed that awful bombing were given equal space. I think a lot of writers would fall victim to hyperbole as they described the emotionally gutting details of that incident and it's aftermath. In fact, I would state that Friscolanti did a tremendous job of fly-on-the-wall observing.
The only fault I found in the book was the protracted attention given to the post-trial aftermath. A lot of ideas and quotes were repeated in fifty pages that could have been expressed in fifteen.
The reason why I was in a position to feel any empathy at all was due to how Michael Friscolanti chose to write this book. Noting his Canadian citizenship, it would have been easy for this writer to slant the narrative in favour of how he would think his fellow countrymen and countrywomen might expect. That would be a story that quickly establishes blame to the United States Air Force and the innocence of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
However, I felt Friscolanti remained an unbiased observer throughout the book. The families of the victims, members of the Canadian military, and the participants of the court martials that followed that awful bombing were given equal space. I think a lot of writers would fall victim to hyperbole as they described the emotionally gutting details of that incident and it's aftermath. In fact, I would state that Friscolanti did a tremendous job of fly-on-the-wall observing.
The only fault I found in the book was the protracted attention given to the post-trial aftermath. A lot of ideas and quotes were repeated in fifty pages that could have been expressed in fifteen.
November 4, 2019
the story of the 4 Canadian soldiers kill by friendly fire
by US ,on April 18, 2002.In Kandahar.
by US ,on April 18, 2002.In Kandahar.
November 18, 2013
a lot of law involved
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews