As the Royal Canadian Regiment wraps up its rotation in Kandahar, soldiers put behind them six months of heroics and heartbreak.
They pass the baton off to the Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, who lead the new battle group. That became official Saturday with a signing ceremony.
A total of 22 Canadians were killed over the previous six months, a loss mourned by the entire RCR.
But there is one infantry company that is going home without sustaining a single loss.
Maj. Dave Quick, of the regiment's India Company, describes the feat as a "very humbling experience."
Leading a company that is returning home without a single casualty is "the best thing" that happened to him on the tour, Quick tells 麻豆影视.
Capt. Marc Cote agrees.
"We definitely did some dangerous stuff, and at this point it's fantastic to be going home with everybody, but I think it's still dawning on me how great that really is," Cote said.
Quick led his soldiers on 24 gruelling patrols in Kandahar's Zhari district.
The Taliban had been pushed out of the area by earlier offensives, but the soldiers were on a mission to locate and eliminate the pockets of insurgency that still linger.
Quick's soldiers were forced into combat 16 times.
"As weird as it sounds, when it actually happens, when bullets start flying, it's almost like it's a relief because you are finally getting to do your job," said Cpl. Matt Elliot.
But it wasn't Taliban bullets that killed Canadian soldiers this past rotation. For the most part, they lost their lives to lethal roadside bombs.
Quick and his men know they were lucky to return home with all the comrades in their infantry company. Still, they mourn the loss of their fallen friends.
"Although I didn't lose any men in my company, I lost men in my regiment and my battalion, men that I have known most of my career as well, so it's sad," he said.
While they head home to a nation divided on Canada's mission in Afghanistan, Quick and his men have no regrets on their role in the war-torn nation.
"If I have to give up six months of my life to make an Afghan's entire life better, then that's really not a big thing to do," he said.
Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.
The Canadians are part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, whose mandate is to help establish the authority of the Afghan government across the violence-wracked country.
Parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south where the Canadians operate, are still under the influence of the Taliban movement that offered refuge to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda when it was in power.
With a report from 麻豆影视' Denelle Balfour in Kandahar
