Reginald “Reg” Argue served in the Canadian Military from Oct 86 to Aug 95, as a Radio Operator. He did his basic training in CFB Cornwallis on the East Coast of Canada. Reg went through his training for Radio Operator at CFB Kingston.
Reg was also posted to CFB Calgary and CFB Wainwright. In 1988, He was deployed on a UN Peacekeeping Tour of Duty overseas to Iran, just after the eight-year war had ended between Iran and Iraq. In 1990 Reg did a Winter indoctrination course in the end of January, beginning of February, where the temps had dropped at one time to -70 with windchill and he was in a tent during this time.
This is a picture taken of Reginald Argue in 1988, the night he along with others in his unit received the Canadian UN Peacekeeping medal from the Iran and Iraq War. The Voice of the Vet salutes our Canadian Brother and we thank him for his service.
Legend of the Fallen
(Gone before their time)
written by
Reginald Angus Argue
(pen name of Angus McLeod)
Standing in the middle of the arenas,
with the thinnest layers of steel connected to their skates.
They defied the laws of physics.
As they were propelled along like cannons discharging their gunpowder,
appearing to be human speed-demons,
slicing and slashing through frozen ponds of ice.
Through it all, they were mathematicians.
Always being four or five steps ahead of others,
as if a small frozen rubber puck was just an extension of their bodies.
For they were the experts on the angles,
acting like pool sharks within the game of hockey.
And in each game, people would chant their names,
desiring to see more.
As they challenged the impossible on the ice,
twisting & twirling, through the smallest of spaces,
acting like part of a ballet company dance troupe.
While they were undressing their opponents,
who were diving in one direction,
only to have each of them turn on a tip of a needle,
and then propel past their rivals,
making their adversaries appear like they were standing perfectly still.
On and off the ice, they acted like emissaries for the game.
Inspiring everyone they knew & met,
to try harder in their own dreams & aspirations.
Continuously, all eyes were focused on them everywhere they went,
as they were like bright shining stars in the sky,
illuminating every area, they entered.
With their future pointing to the big leagues,
where their talents and gifts would shine.
Where people would create songs, legends, and stories,
coming from their future exploitations and accomplishments.
Yet, sadly it all did not come into being.
Tragically, their bright shining lights have left our midst,
allowing many to only witnessed the smallest signs of their fullest potential.
Still, they live on in the memories, and videos recorded by others,
with each day being a little darker, without their laughter or smile.
But, we continue forward,
never forgetting the love,
they had for the game of hockey and life itself.
April 12, 2018
###
Calluses of The Soul
written by
Reginald Angus Argue
The road of life under my feet has built calluses upon my soul.
Illustrating to me a portray of a world that has come and gone.
Costing me part of my compassion, within me;
while ripping away the simplicity, that I once knew.
Replacing it, with a gigantic bottomless hole inside of me,
as it makes each day tougher than the last.
Placing a price on what I really cherished, in my life.
Losing the ones that once stood next to me, in my younger days.
The ones that once helped to keep the manmade madness at bay;
while they prevented it from consuming my soul.
For, a part of my life has been left in the battlefields I have crossed.
A place, where long ago, I witnessed the ground turned to a reddish color,
as it tore at the flesh of a few around me.
Stripping these few from the land of the living,
transporting them into the other plain of life,
where the sounds of human screams, along with explosion are not permitted to reach.
Yet, each night I am taken back to this time, continually witnessing the same dream again and again.
Through it all, I want so much to cry out and say enough.
To reach out and save the ones, who are no longer here among the living.
But, as I awake, I am returned to the world, where the actions of past battlefields no longer have a presence, within our time.
To a place in time, where the uniform I wore in my younger days has long since been hung up.
Alone I feel, with tears of frustration and pain,
continually flowing down my face.
For there have been times,
when I have tried to run from the demons within;
only to find out that I cannot run from myself.
Continually, I pray for just a moment to escape from the endless dreams.
Yet, each new day, I continue,
with the hope that the peace I knew years ago,
will soon once again come to me.
June 23, 2018
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Golden Warriors
Written by Reginald Angus Argue (pen name of Angus McLeod)
Rolling the dice, with fire shooting from our fingertips.
We gamble with our lives, money, and place in time.
We lay it on the line.
Living for only today, with no thought of what tomorrow may bring.
Pushing others out of the way and taking our place at the head of the table.
Letting our roar be heard through the land.
With our blood, sweat, and tears, we have stoked our engines.
While constantly preparing for the battle that has now come forth.
Flaring out our chest, we let our manes be seen.
For, we do everything in our own way.
As the sound of hard steel cutting into ice overtakes us.
While a frozen rubber puck flies along the ice.
With our eyes glued to the action in front of us.
We cheer on the few chosen warriors, who have taken up our cause for us,
using sticks and their speed on the frozen pond as their weapons of choice.
As they strive for their quest to obtain the highest of hockey’s trophy.
To have their names and our team’s identity be seen for decades to come.
Lighting up the skies, we let others know we are here.
Gazing out from our places within the castle,
we celebrate with our warriors’ conquests,
as they lay their vanished foe, at our feet.
And show to others that we have no other equal.
For, we are Battle Born.
May 30th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It’s Rock & Roll Baby
Written by Reginald Angus Argue (pen name of Angus McLeod)
Musical notes are the entities of life.
Cutting to the bones.
Coursing through the veins.
Coming alive with each new note that is a beat, pulsing within our hearts.
Being arranged in a pattern that stirs our souls to sway.
While we watch, musicians magically playing with their instruments in their hands, sending out constantly changing rhythm & rhyme.
Propelling us into a euphoric frame of mind.
Making our bodies want to dance in the middle of a hurricane.
Twisting and shouting, we let our hips become part of the music.
Adding another layer to it all, the lead singer steps up to the mic, moving with each new beat.
As they join in the flow of it all.
With their voices intensify the atmosphere that stirring throughout the air.
The music then becomes part of who we are.
As we use our bodies to paint out our emotions to the world all around us.
Letting each second commence to be like an orchestra, where we are the main performers.
For as the nights join with the days, the music has never abandoned our sides.
Living on in the voices of the ones, who for only a short period of time rocked our world, with their talents.
Allowing all of us dream; while the King, the Court Jester, and the rest of his round circle, left us for the coast.
And through it all the sound of music resides within each new generation, being a recreation of its heartbeat to the world.
