“LET US REMEMBER TOGETHER”

Colonel Jonas Waern’s appeal to his comrades in the 14th Battalion in the Congo in 1962, expressed in his closing remarks, is just as relevant today as it was more than 50 years ago.

Experiences and memories from the many peacekeeping missions bridge generations of veterans. Duties, camaraderie, joy, anger, and longing for family are all things that unite them. There is an understanding between veterans from the very beginning.

For someone who has never taken part in a mission, however, it can understandably be difficult to comprehend and fully appreciate the bond that exists among veterans. And just as difficult as it is to understand, it can be equally difficult to explain.

Colonel Jonas Waern’s evocative closing words below can serve as a bridge between veterans, their families, and those who are interested but have no personal experience of such missions.

With greater understanding comes a greater opportunity to remember together.

"As I pause for a moment to consider what final words I should write to you, I realise how many memories we share. Painful memories and happy memories.

Let us remember together!

You arrived, pale from the darkness of winter, in the midst of ongoing fighting. The enemy's mortar fire and the ear-splitting shots from UN carbines were your welcoming salute.

Record-breaking rains, the worst in Katanga's history, poured down on you relentlessly, keeping pace with the enemy's fire.

The waiting through dark nights... Then, suddenly, the sickening, muffled thuds from the mortar positions. Moments later, shells whistle through the air, and your chest is gripped by the heavy explosions of mortar rounds. A voice cries out: 'Has anyone been hit?' The same anxious question every time.

And then the refugee camp, our seething sea of humanity, never the same from one moment to the next. Rumours, quarrels, women queuing for water, children laughing and waving — an indescribably vibrant confusion of human life. The smell of charcoal fires in the evenings. The smoke hanging in bluish-white veils around the camp at dusk. All of this belongs to us and remains with us as precious memories.

No grand words can adequately express what your work through all of this has meant. So I will simply say: Thank you! I know you understand what I mean.

Thank you, too, for your good spirits, your laughter, your singing and your music.

Now, together, we move into a brighter key. We draw back the curtain and look ahead towards another country. The air is filled with the scent of spring, of grass and freshly turned earth. Colours of indescribable brilliance compete with one another wherever you look.

Just think: in this beautiful country, we have the right to live. Somewhere over there lies our home, where kindness and smiles await our return.

It is our country, the country to which we shall now journey.

There, and wherever in the world you may go, I wish you EVERY SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS!

— Jonas Waern"