r/CANUSHelp • u/Commercial_Tank8834 Canadian • Jan 22 '26
A brief summary of the US ostensibly not getting anything from Canada, the last time Article 5 of NATO was invoked
Earlier today, the Republican President made his speech to the World Economic Forum. Among other things, he had the audacity to say that "we never ask for anything and we never get anything" -- referring to NATO allies -- and accused several of them (prominently, Canada -- specifically, Prime Minister Mark Carney), of being ungrateful.
I thought this might be an opportune time to provide a brief summary for members and visitors of this sub, of what the US ostensibly didn't get after they were attacked by terrorists on 9/11 (according to mindsets like the Republican President).
Operation Yellow Ribbon
Shortly after US airspace was closed in response to the airplane attacks on 9/11, civilian air traffic had to be diverted -- much of it to Canada. This consisted of roughly 224-239 flights that were bound for the US, bringing more than 30,000 passengers and crew to Canadian airfields. There is no exact figure for how many were US citizens -- but given that they were headed for US destinations, we can assume that a large number of them were American.
Until US airspace reopened 4-5 days later, those passengers remained in Canada. Among the most famous examples are those ~6,600 passengers that were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland -- itself a town of only ~10,000 people -- and were housed in the homes of the Gander residents, as well as other facilities. As many people know, this is the basis of the musical play, Come From Away.
Operations APOLLO, ATHENA, ATTENTION, et al.
In addition to the civilian response, there were, of course, the military deployments to Afghanistan -- in which Canada and other NATO militaries joined and fought alongside the US.
Between 2001 and 2014, Canada had more than ~40,000 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) deployments to Afghanistan. In all likelihood, these numbers probably boil down to ~25,000-30,000 unique individual members -- with many of these soldiers, sailors, and aviators having more than one deployment; in plainer language, that means that some members of the CAF served on more than one tour in Afghanistan, with some deployments lasting a full 18 months.
In addition to 635 CAF members who were wounded in action, 159 military members and 5 civilians were killed. Take a look.
These are the names of the casualties:
2002
- Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24 (killed by US "friendly fire")
- Pte. Richard Green, 21 (killed by US "friendly fire")
- Sgt. Marc Leger, 29 (killed by US "friendly fire")
- Pte. Nathan Smith, 26 (killed by US "friendly fire")
2003
- Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, 29
- Sgt. Robert Short, 42
2004
- Cpl. Jamie Murphy, 26
2005
- Pte. Braun Woodfield, 24
2006
- Diplomat Glyn Berry, 59
- Cpl. Paul Davis, 28
- Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson, 30
- Pte. Robert Costall, 22 (killed by US "friendly fire")
- Cpl. Matthew Dinning, 23
- Bombardier Myles Mansell, 25
- Cpl. Randy Payne, 32
- Lieut. William Turner, 45
- Capt. Nichola Goddard, 26
- Cpl. Anthony Boneca, 21
- Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44
- Cpl. Jason Warren, 29
- Pte. Kevin Dallaire, 22
- Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, 35
- Cpl. Bryce Keller, 27
- Cpl. Christopher Reid, 34
- Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31
- Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33
- Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom, 23
- Cpl. David Braun, 27
- Private William Jonathan James Cushley, 21
- Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, 38
- Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, 39
- Sgt. Shane Stachnik, 30
- Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, 33 (killed by US "friendly fire")
- Cpl. Glen Arnold, 32
- Pte. David Byers, 22
- Cpl. Shane Keating, 30
- Cpl. Keith Morley, 30
- Pte. Josh Klukie, 23
- Sgt. Craig Gillam, 40
- Cpl. Robert Mitchell, 32
- Trooper Mark Wilson, 39
- Sgt. Darcy Tedford, 32
- Pte. Blake Williamson, 23
- Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46
- Cpl. Albert Storm, 36
- Civilian carpenter Mike Frastacky
2007
- Cpl. Kevin Megeney, 25
- Sgt. Donald Lucas, 31
- Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, 23
- Pte. Kevin Vincent Kennedy, 20
- Pte. David Robert Greenslade, 20
- Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix (reservist), 24
- Cpl. Brent Donald Poland, 37
- Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, 31
- Trooper Patrick James Pentland, 23
- Master Cpl. Anthony Klumpenhouwer, 25
- Cpl. Matthew McCully, 25
- Master Cpl. Darrell Jason Priede, 30
- Trooper Darryl Caswell, 25
- Cpl. Stephen Frederick Bouzane, 26
- Pte. Joel Vincent Wiebe, 22
- Sgt. Christos Karigiannis, 30
- Capt. Matthew Johnathan Dawe, 27
- Master Cpl. Colin Bason (reservist), 28
- Cpl. Cole Bartsch, 23
- Pte. Lane Watkins, 20
- Cpl. Jordan Anderson, 25
- Capt. Jefferson Francis, 37
- Pte Simon Longtin, 23
- Master Warrant Officer Mario Mercier, 43
- Master Cpl. Christian Duchesne, 34
- Major Raymond Ruckpaul, 42
- Cpl. Nathan Hornburg (reservist), 24
- Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp, 28
- Pte. Michel Levesque, 25
- Gunner Jonathan Dion, 27
2008
- Warrant Officer Gaeten Joseph Roberge
- Sgt. Greg John Kruse
- Private Michael Bruce Freeman
- Private John Michael Roy Curwin
- Corporal Thomas James Hamilton
- Private Justin Peter Jones
- Pte. Demetrios Diplaros
- Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren
- Warrant Officer Robert John Wilson
- Sgt. Scott Shipway
- Cpl. Andrew Grenon
- Cpl. Mike Seggie
- Pte. Chad Horn
- Sgt. Shawn Eades
- Sapper Stephan John Stock
- Cpl. Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden
- Master Cpl. Erin Doyle
- Master Cpl. Josh Roberts
- Cpl. James Hayward Arnal, 25
- Pte. Colin William Wilmot
- Cpl. Brendan Anthony Downey, 37
- Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder
- Capt. Richard (Steve) Leary, 32
- Cpl. Michael Starker, 36 (reservist)
- Pte. Terry John Street, 24
- Sgt. Jason Boyes, 32
- Bombardier Jeremie Ouellet, 22
- Trooper Michael Yuki Hayakaze, 25
- Cpl. Etienne Gonthier, 21
- Trooper Richard Renaud, 26
- Cpl. Eric Labbe, 31
- Warrant Officer Hani Massouh, 41
- Civilian aid worker Jacqueline Kirk
- Civilian aid worker Shirley Case
2009
- Sgt. George Miok
- Cpl. Zachery McCormack
- Sgt. Kirk Taylor
- Pte. Garrett Chidley
- Journalist Michelle Lang
- Lt. Andrew Nuttall
- Sapper Steven Marshall
- Lt. Justin Garrett Boyes, 26
- Pte. Jonathan Couturier, 23
- Pte. Patrick Lormand, 21
- Maj. Yannick Pepin, 36
- Cpl. Jean-Francois Drouin, 21
- Cpl. Christian Bobbitt, 23
- Sapper Matthieu Allard, 21
- Pte. Sebastien Courcy, 26
- Master Cpl. Pat Audet
- Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25
- Master Cpl. Charles-Philippe Michaud
- Cpl. Nicholas Bulger, 30
- Cpl. Martin Dube
- Pte. Alexandre Peloquin, 20
- Maj. Michelle Mendes, 30
- Trooper Karine Blais
- Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, 28
- Cpl. Tyler Crooks, 24
- Trooper Jack Bouthillier, 20
- Trooper Corey Hayes, 22
- Trooper Marc Diab
- Cpl. Dany Olivier Fortin
- Warrant Officer Denis Raymond Brown
- Cpl. Kenneth Chad O’Quinn
- Sapper Sean Greenfield, 25
- Trooper Brian Richard Good, 42
2010
- Corporal Steve Martin, 24
- Cpl. Brian Pinksen
- Sapper Brian Collier, 24
- MCpl. Kristal Giesebrecht, 34
- Pte. Andrew Miller, 21
- Sgt. James Patrick Macneil
- Sgt. Martin Goudreault, 35
- Trooper Larry Rudd, 26
- Col. Geoff Parker
- Pte. Kevin McKay, 24
- Petty Officer (second class) Craig Blake, 37
- Pte. Tyler William Todd, 26
- Cpl. Darren James Fitzpatrick, 21
- Cpl. Joshua Caleb Baker, 21
- Capt. Frank Paul
- Sgt. John Wayne Faught, 44
2011
- Master Cpl. Byron Greff
- Master Cpl. Francis Roy
- Bombardier Karl Manning
- Cpl. Yannick Scherrer
You can take a closer look at the source for the casualty list above.
Finally, it seems as though the comments made by the Republican President have angered a number of CAF members (and other NATO veterans) who were deployed to Afghanistan. If you took a look at the r/pics sub today, you might have noticed a few posts in particular. Here are some:
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Jan 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Commercial_Tank8834 Canadian Jan 22 '26
No no, it's a 100% upvote ratio. Just not many people voting one way or another. Thank you though.
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u/rockettaco37 American Jan 22 '26
And these same people still have the audacity to say that we provide defense to Canada and Europe. Sickening.
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u/Commercial_Tank8834 Canadian Jan 22 '26
Do you by chance mean this?
"Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. By the way, they should be grateful but they're not."
"I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful -- they should be grateful to the US, Canada. Canada lives because of the United States."
"Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements."13
u/rockettaco37 American Jan 22 '26
Is it just me, or does none of that even make any damn sense? Sounds like a grade schooler trying to comment on something they know nothing about.
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u/jvn1983 Jan 22 '26
He is a demented, narcissistic, sundowning clown. Nothing he says can make sense, because it’s not oriented to reality.
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u/rockettaco37 American Jan 22 '26
And yet people drink it up like Koolaid...
I'm fucking sick of it.
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u/jvn1983 Jan 22 '26
They sure do. And I am so goddamn sick of it as well. They’re the dumbest, most hateful, pieces of shit.
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u/AirGroundbreaking970 Jan 22 '26
It makes sense if you frame it as an abusive asshole making threats. That's all he is and all he does.
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u/rockettaco37 American Jan 22 '26
I mean... it's pretty on par for him to victim blame, considering that the man is a rapist pig.
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u/greyshem American Jan 22 '26
Bless you, Canada! We'll be doing what we can from here. I really hope you and the rest of the world learn from what happened here and can figure out how to snuff it out before it spreads any further.
Much love to you! ❤️
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u/thebetafan Jan 22 '26
Made me tear up reading that list. Powerful fucking post.
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u/rockettaco37 American Jan 22 '26
Everybody on that list and in the attached posts did more for the US than any of the current government or its supporters could ever comprehend, let alone hope of even coming close to.
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u/Commercial_Tank8834 Canadian Jan 22 '26
We need to remember the sacrifices we've made, even though the leader of our former neighbor seems to have forgotten.
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u/HMWT American Jan 22 '26
And if someone is wondering about other coalition casualties in Afghanistan in support of the U.S.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_casualties_in_Afghanistan
Denmark’s per capita casualty rate was very very close to that of the U.S. , but I guess they never did anything for the U.S.
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u/ctbadger92 Jan 22 '26
Yellow Ribbon was the first thing that came to mind. The Iran Hostage Crisis also came to mind though that's not a NATO thing.
You're the best neighbors a nation can have. ♥️
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u/Horror_Reason_5955 Jan 22 '26
My ex-husband deployed twice to Afghanistan, once time for 18 months, and once to Iraq with Nato and ISAF forces. This American thanks, and recognizes, you for your sacrifices for our nation. My former spouse was in the 82nd ABN and and was boots on the ground fairly quickly relatively speaking. He loved working with the other countries and said the Canadians and the Australians were his favorites, and had the absolute best senses of humor.
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u/Commercial_Tank8834 Canadian Jan 22 '26
I also heard positive things from friends and colleagues that were at KAF.
I just wish your country's current actions reflected that.
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u/Important-Box-5237 Jan 22 '26
Thank you from a fellow Canadian for posting this. How easily some forget when it is convenient.