Tough guy jumper killed in UN bombing

View Larger Image Major Hess-von Kruedener is shown in an undated photo being presented with his jump certificate. Hess-von Kruedener is missing and presumed dead after an Israeli bomb flattened a clearly marked UN post in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 killing three other observers. Photograph by : Canadian Press/Canadian Forces Article Tools Printer friendly E-mail Font: * * * * with files from Vito Pilieci, Lance Crossley and MatthewFisher, CanWest News Service, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Published: Thursday, July 27, 2006

Maj. Paeta Derek Hess-von Kruedener was a serious soldier who took pride in his job and used the experiences he accumulated after spending decades in warzones to help teach others about the dangers of combat.

In a 2003 course for journalists about how to report on and survive during a war, held at Canadian Forces Base Kingston by the Canadian Armed Forces, Hess-von Kruedener told about 30 journalists that if they wanted to survive in a warzone, the No. 1 rule that must be followed is ''don't trust anyone.''

"Operate on the fact someone is listening. Someone is always listening," he told the group.

Hess-von Kruedener informed his students that spies lie everywhere and even a taxi driver can prove to be extremely dangerous as many are affiliated with foreign spy organizations and are trained to eavesdrop on passengers.

His battlefield experience comes from more than 20 years of service with the Armed Forces. He previously served in Cyprus, twice in Bosnia and Congo before his most recent posting in Lebanon.

He also served at the Canadian Parachute Centre, a national school that teaches advanced parachute techniques, in Trenton, Ont.

According to his colleagues, there are very few people better trained or prepared to deploy into combat.

Hess-von Kruedener is the Canadian United Nations representative who is missing and presumed dead as a result of an Israeli bombing on a UN observation point in southern Lebanon earlier this week.

His name was released in a statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday afternoon. News that Hess-von Kruedener may have been killed by a bomb in Lebanon tore through his home town of Kingston and his regiment with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton.

"This saddens us all," said Lt.-Col. Shane Brennan of Kingston, who commands Joint Task Force Lebanon, recently set up to help evacuate Canadians from the war-torn country.

"Many of us here have known him. He was a jumper (skydiver), a hard, tough, physical guy who was really motivated. He was a man of action always pushing the limits."

In his most recent assignment, Hess-von Kruedener was acting as an unarmed military observer with the UN's Truce and Supervision Organization. He was one of four UN observers stationed in southern Lebanon to observe fighting in that region.

No one at Hess-von Kruedener's Kingston home would comment Wednesday night. Maj.-Gen. Stu Beare, who was at the residence Wednesday afternoon, said the family was extremely emotional.

Neighbours of Hess-von Kruedener were shocked to hear the friendly outdoorsman, who had only moved to the area from Alberta about two years ago, may have been killed.

Many described him as a good person who was always willing to help someone in need.

"A fabulous person," said Cathy Forshner, who lives near the Hess-von Kruedener home. "That is the best way to explain him. He is very kind and very honest. Just a fabulous person."

In an e-mail sent to CTV shortly after hostilities renewed in the Middle East, Kruedener described UN Patrol Base Khiam, strategically perched about 10 kilometres from Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian borders. The base is named after the village El Khiam, which sits on one of four ridges overlooking the Hasbani River valley."We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing," he wrote in his July 18 e-mail.

"The closest artillery has landed within two metres of our position and the closest 1,000-pound aerial bomb has landed 100 metres from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity."

Brennan said when he was deployed to the region last week, he learned his friend was serving as the only Canadian with UNTSO in the area, and feared the worst when he heard a Canadian might have been killed.

Added Brennan, who also served in Croatia, Bosnia and Cyprus: "Our hearts and thoughts are with his family, but as soldiers we have to focus on on the mission at hand.

"I know that anytime there is active hostilities it is very dangerous to be an unarmed UN observer."

Under UNTSO, which was created in 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East, unarmed observers working in multinational teams report on violations of agreements, including ceasefires in southern Lebanon, Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula.

Canada has contributed military observers since 1954, and currently has eight Canadian Forces personnel assigned to UNTSO, as part of Operation Jade.

This is the e-mail he wrote about a week ago, and submitted to CTV

A Canadian soldier's report from South Lebanon
Updated Wed. Jul. 26 2006 5:19 PM ET

After the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, and the subsequent bombing campaign began against Lebanon, CTV.ca received an email from Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, a Canadian Forces soldier serving with the UN in South Lebanon.

"If you are interested in a Canadian perspective on the events of yesterday and what is happening here in the area I am serving in, I can provide some concise info for you about the current situation," he wrote.

Major Hess-von Kruedener in South Lebanon in March, meeting with one of the Mouktars of a Druze village called Bourhoz.

With the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Major Hess-von Kruedener was the only Canadian serving as a United Nations Military Observer in Lebanon. He was stationed at the UN base about 10 kilometres from where the Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders meet. The UN's mission there is to report ceasefire violations.
On July 25, that base came under fire from Israeli artillery and was struck by a precision-guided aerial bomb. Four UN observers died. On July 26, the federal government said Hess-von Kruedener was missing and presumed dead.

Here is his full email, written July 18, with background on the mission and the current situation:

We have had a brief "tactical pause" in the action here, so I am taking this opportunity to provide you some information on the situation here in south Lebanon. At the outset, I will provide you with a brief background on who I am, What the Org and Mission is here and then answer some of the bank of questions you provided.

Background

My name is Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, and I am an Infantry Officer with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, of the Canadian Forces. I was sent to this Mission (United Nations Truce and Supervision Organization -UNTSO) last October 05, and am currently serving as an unarmed Military Observer. I have now been stationed here in south Lebanon for Approximately nine months.

I am currently writing to you from the UN Patrol Base Khiam, which is situated approximately 10 km from the nexus of the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian Borders. I am serving with Observer Group Lebanon, or OGL, and I am on Team Sierra. The Patrol Base is named after the village it is situated in, El Khiam, which sits on one of four ridges which dominates both the Hasbani River valley, which then changes to the Houla Valley when it crosses the Lebanon-Israel border 10 km to our south.

A Canadian soldier mans a guard tower at Camp Ziouani, Golan Heights, in 2002. Thousands of Canadians have served in this border region since 1958. (Photo: MCpl Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

The patrol base was initially an observation post and was built in 1972, but was later destroyed in 1976 during the fighting between the PLO and the South Lebanese Army (SLA). In 1978 it was rebuilt again and manned by elements of the Norwegian Battalion serving with UNIFIL. In 1980, Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) assumed responsibility for it. Historically, the area of the El Khiam and Hasbani valleys to the north and the Houla valley to the south have been the main axis for invasion in to Lebanon and Palestinian Territories.

Mission

The mission of Team Sierra and OGL within the greater context of UNTSO is to maintain the integrity of theWithdrawal Line (Blue Line), and report on any and all violations or activities that threaten the cease-fire and international peace and security here along the Lebanese/Israeli border, and Israeli Occupied Lebanon, and to support the UNSC resolution 1559, within our mission mandate.

Information Requested

(1) Currently, there are several nationalities that are here on the patrol base with me. I am serving with an Australian, Chinese, Finnish, Austrian, and Irish Officers. They come from various different backgrounds, levels of experience and services (Army, Navy and Air Force) from within their militaries.

(2) I have been here for nine months of a one-year tour of duty. Since I have arrived here in Lebanon, this current incident is the fourth I have seen and by far the most spectacular and intensive.

The first was 21 Nov 05, when the Hezbollah tried to capture IDF soldiers from an IDF observation position overlooking the Wazzani river near the town of Ghajjar on the Blue Line. This action was unsuccessful and resulted in the deaths of the Hezbollah raiding force.

On 01 Feb 06, a young shepherd boy was Killed by an IDF patrol near an abandon goat farm called Bastarra. Hassan Nasrallah (note: Hezbollah's leader) vowed that there would be consequences to this action. Team Sierra was tasked on 2 Feb 06, to assist in the investigation of the incident, and we sent one team to do so while the other team conducted its normal mobile patrolling activities.

On 03 Feb 06, a limited engagement took place initiated by the Hezbollah on several of the IDF defensive positions located in occupied Lebanon.

Then on 28 May, the Islamic Jihad (PLO) fired rockets from South Lebanon, into Israel, which elicited an immediate aerial bombardment of positions near our patrol base and in the Bekka valley.
(3) Our Team's normal operational activities are to plan, and execute daily vehicle and foot patrols of the Blue Line area within our area of responsibility. Unfortunately, with the current artillery and aerial bombing campaign being carried out by the IDF/IAF, it is not safe or prudent for us to conduct normal patrol activities. Currently, we are observing and reporting on all activities in our area of responsibility, with specific attention to activities along the Blue Line, which is clearly visible from our hilltop position.

(4) Team Sierra is currently observing both IDF/IAF and Hezbollah military clashes from our vantage point which has a commanding view of the IDF positions on the Golan mountains to our east and the IDF positions along the Blue Line to our south, as well as, most of the Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol Base. It appears that the lion's share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area. On the night of 16 July, at 2125 hrs, a large firefight broke out between the Hezbollah and the IDF near a village called Majidyye and lasted for one hour and 40 minutes.

(5) Based on the intensity and volatility of this current situation and the unpredictability of both sides (Hezbollah and Israel), and given the operational tempo of the Hezbollah and the IDF, we are not safe to venture out to conduct our normal patrol activities. We have now switched to Observation Post Duties and are observing any and all violations as they occur.

This is all the information of a non-tactical nature that I can provide you. I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position, proximity or the amount of or types of sorties the IAF is currently flying. Suffice to say that the activity levels and operational tempo of both parties is currently very high and continuous, with short breaks or pauses. Please understand the nature of my job here is to be impartial and to report violations from both sides without bias. As an Unarmed Military Observer, this is my raison d'etre.

What I can tell you is this: we have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing. The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity.

I thank you for the opportunity to provide you with some information from the front lines here in south Lebanon.

Maj Hess-von Kruedener

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.