Anthropologist finds separating brothers-in-arms stresses soldiers

But according to an anthropologist who lived with them for half their tour, there was one more trial to come - being separated from each other.

"That was a huge problem," says Anne Irwin, a University of Calgary anthropologist whose latest paper on her life with the Patricias has just been released.

Irwin spent three months in the summer of 2006 with Charlie Company, sharing their meals, hardships, dangers and lives with the intention of studying their society and interactions as if they were a remote aboriginal tribe. She spent weeks "outside the wire," saw battle and grieved with the soldiers over casualties.

And then, in August, the tour was over. At least for some.

While most of the Patricias were sent to Cyprus for five days of "decompression," some were kept behind to brief and train the incoming Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). The decision split up soldiers who had grown close as brothers and sisters.

"These guys headed out to the beaches and bars of Cyprus knowing that their buddies who they just spent six months in combat with are still back there," said Irwin. "They leave knowing that their section commanders and crew commanders, riflemen, drivers, were back commanding what they thought was going to be very dangerous operations.

"They're feeling all kinds of ambivalence because they're worried about them but glad they're going home, so then they're feeling guilty because they're glad that they've left."

Those emotions didn't keep Charlie Company from enjoying itself, or from attending various lectures on what to expect and watch out for on their return home. But concern and resentment was ever-present in the background, said Irwin.

"They'd say things like, 'If they get into a (battle) and somebody's killed, I hope so-and-so' - somebody very high up, usually - 'can sleep at night.'

"They felt there were other ways they could have showed the RCR the ground. They'd say, 'Nobody showed us the ground. We just learned it. Why do we have leave our guys behind?' "

As they prepared to head to Canada after their five-day stay, many soldiers left messages with hotel staff for their soon-to-arrive comrades.

Some didn't see their buddies again for weeks. The original sections - the smallest unit of military organization, usually no more than 12 soldiers - were never reassembled.

"I'm not sure that there are long-term consequences of this," said Irwin.

"But at a minimum, it's not the right thing to do for these guys. They've done that tour; the redeployment shouldn't increase their stress level.

The concern suffered by those soldiers who left their buddies behind is a testament to the bonds formed under fire, she said.

"They become family to the degree that often families feel displaced. It's a very nurturing, caring love relationship even with people you don't like."

Even an anthropologist wasn't immune.

"It was kind of like being Wendy with the lost boys," laughs Irwin.

"I loved it and I loved them. There's a real specialness about that relationship.

"I've talked to a lot of the guys (since returning) and they say, 'Yes, I'd go back.

" 'But it would have to be with the same people.' "