'Unkillable' soldier inspires kids on reserve - The Starphoenix

By Alyssa McMurtry, The Starphoenix:

Cpl. Hilliard Paul Kahpeaysewat

Photograph by: Viewpoint Photographic Design , Submitted photo

         On Sept 1, 2009, Cpl. Hilliard Paul Kahpeaysewat was en route to Afghanistan, leaving Canada for the first time.
        When he stepped off the plane, the temperature was a sweltering 55 C. Six hours later, a rocketpropelled grenade exploded in front of him.
        "That's when I realized it was real. These guys aren't fooling around and I'm going to have to protect myself," he said. It wasn't until later that he noticed his knee had been hit by shrapnel.
        Kahpeaysewat, the first Afghanistan veteran to come from the Moosomin Reserve near North Battleford, was stationed near the Pakistani border in Southern Afghanistan in the Panjwai district. Part of his job was driving an armoured vehicle. He spray painted an Autobot symbol on it because it looked like a Transformer.
        Over his nine-month tour, he was shot at repeatedly and drove over five improvised explosive devices.
The Taliban gave him a nickname - Unkillable.
Kahpeaysewat joined the army when he was 36. Although it had always been a dream of his to enlist, it was only when the army contacted him after Sept. 11, 2001 that he decided to sign up.
       "I'm definitely one of the older guys to join, but I'm like 250 pounds of muscle ... I'm a machine," Kahpeaysewat said.
           At that time, he was working odd jobs and struggling with alcoholism.
"Basically the war saved my life," he said....Continue reading...