On a beautiful weekend in July (July 23-25, 2010 to be exact) many of Andrew’s closest family, friends, and military friends made the trek to Alexis Creek along the Chilcotin River, a little more than 100 km West of Williams Lake.

The destination was the Nuttall’s ranch, where Andrew, his brother, and his father had spent only a few memorable times together since Richard had bought the place a few years ago. It is a place that’s rugged and beautiful, and both Andrew and John understood and enjoyed in the same way their father had when he decided to purchase it. In the memorable times they spent there they had discussed plans for the future of naming the ranch, putting a header with a sign to welcome visitors, and eventually building a cabin so that they could return regularly and spend quality time together in the years to come.

On this weekend, though, we were all there to remember and honour Andrew. We did this by meeting each other if we hadn’t met before, reminiscing about our relationships with Drew, hearing about the varying and different experiences we had all had with him, and helping do what turned out to be one of his last requests to his Dad in their final phone call: to finally put up the sign that identified the ranch.

So on Saturday that’s exactly what we did. A few people - including members of Andrew’s platoon, fellow officers, Andrew’s father, brother, and aunt, among others - spoke to help us remember Andrew fondly and mark the occasion.

With the header already raised, we watched as two members of Andrew’s platoon attached the sign bearing the name “Cayoosh Ranch”; Cayoosh is a Native term that apparently refers to a strong Indian mountain horse, and the Chief of the Native reserve that is next door to the ranch claimed that it was an appropriate name for Andrew, and that his people related to the loss as they are a warrior nation themselves and have also lost many in their storied history.

Finally, a granite monument memorial to Andrew was unveiled. This monument will be there long after any of us, and will keep Andrew’s memory alive even beyond our own vivid memories of him.

We all stayed as long as we could in the heat to keep the moment alive as long as possible, and then slowly dispersed back to the neighbour’s place where the platoon was camped out and family and friends were staying in and around the cabin. The Nuttalls gave out medallions commemerating the occasion and a few other stories and more private presentations happened just before lunch.

That afternoon, and later into the night, the party went on, and we all got to know each other better by sharing a few beers and stories, and even doing a group beer shotgun (or maybe more than one) in Andrew’s honour.

The following day the platoon went into Williams Lake where a group of locals had prepared lunch and a ceremony to show how much they appreciated what the boys had been doing overseas.

It was a great weekend - one that Drew would have loved to attend himself, but I think we all knew he was somewhere watching and smiling at us, happy we were getting to know each other and remembering all of the good times we had shared with him.

See some pictures of the event here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53173433@N06/sets/72157624757453620/

There are two events to remember Drew happening this Saturday, June 26th, which is his birthday. This would have been his 31st birthday, same as me.

Event #1: Andy Nutts Day @ Crossfit Vancouver

June 26 @ Crossfit Vancouver (1340 East 3rd Ave., Vancouver, BC) : 11 am - late

http://www.crossfit.ca

From the horse’s mouth:

Post from June 6, 2010:

Plans for Andy Nutts Day are progressing nicely. I know many of you never met Andy. You would have loved him.

Our celebration of his life falls on his birthday, June 26th. It is going to be a hell of a day.

Andy worked tirelessly to promote Crossfit where ever he went, his contribution to the fitness of the Canadian military was especially noble. So to honor his commitment I am asking each of you to grab someone who could benefit from fitness and our community and bring them to our workout for newbies on the 26th. Make a difference!

We will be starting at 11am. The newbie you bring out will be coached on the movements, warmed up then given a number picked out of a hat. They will then have to choose their partner (can’t dance with the person who brought ya). #1 chooses first among all the veterans lined up in front of them, then #2 and so on. It will be interesting to see if new people can spot the fittest and make the right choice.

The workout will be something with simple movements and no so long or intense but will probably give your friend a good dose of the medicine. 

Winning team gets their names on the “Nutts cup”.

Then we will have the individual competition open to any member of CF Vancouver.

We will do the NUTTS hero workout. 1st place for both Men and Women get their names engraved on the cup. Second place gets a commemorative medal.

Then

The real fun begins………LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

BBQ and after party.

To attend the party (best local DJ’s spinning grooves) you must bring a single person. Free drink if you bring a female. 

Andy would have loved that!!!

Get on it now!!! See you all on Saturday the 26th.

Post from June 16, 2010:

1) The format for the 2 man/woman event on the 26th of June has changed (Thank Tank, his big blue heart couldn’t stand watching someone get picked last)………We are going to spin the bottle and let Nutts decide who the teams are. 

2) Andy’s parents will be there to hand out the Nutts CUP. They are really great people, really fun and dynamic. Come out to support them in the celebration of their son’s life.

3) There is a sign up sheet in the gym: This guy died for our country, the least we can do is show respect for his life. If 7 people show up it will be a fucking travesty of all things good.

4) Intoduction to Crossfit for the newbies starts at 11am. Individual competition is at 1pm

5) BBQ kicks off at 2:30pm

6) Party is at 9pm. Bring a single friend. Free drink for both of you if it is a female.  Andy would have loved that feature. 

It is going to be a real fun upbeat day.

GIDDYUP….see you all on the 26th

Patty

Event #2: Beach & BBQ Birthday for Scott, Matt, & Drew

Saturday, June 26 @ Spanish Banks : 11 am - evening

This second event is less of a formal one, but would also have been near and dear to Drew’s heart as well. For the few years while Drew was in Vancouver, him, Matt Gustafson, and myself always tried to celebrate our birthdays together as they fell within 5 days of each other. We did this a few times in White Rock via BBQs and softball games, as well as beach BBQs featuring volleyball, cups, and a lot of good people.

This year we’re going to try and re-create that beach BBQ atmosphere in honour of Drew and all he did and was to many of us. This is the first birthday Matt and I will be celebrating in the last ~7 years when Drew wasn’t either an arm’s length or a phone call away, so we want to make sure he’s front and center in our hearts and minds while we spend time with our friends and reflect on another year gone by.

Assuming the weather is good, it should be going on all day at Spanish Banks. Look for a Canadian flag and the blue and yellow volleyball net.

I realize that there’s a bit of a conflict with two events going on, but it just means you have double the chance of remembering Andrew. I would highly recommend you attend the Andy Nutts Day at Crossfit Vancouver and either do the workout at 1 pm and/or learn about Crossfit at 11 am. After that, either party should be a lot of fun and who knows - perhaps the parties will merge into a single one if the stars align!

Note that getting a hero workout named after you is a HUGE honour and I can’t tell you how thrilled Drew would have been about it. Special thanks to Craig Patterson for putting in an awful lot of work to get this to happen.

So on Saturday (the day 31 years ago that brought Drew into the world and to all of us) if you are at any of these events or not, take a moment to think about a true Canadian hero and one of the best friend/son/brother/cousin/etc. that many of us have ever had, and quietly or loudly say to him and those around you, “God Bless Nutts”.

The cup will be awarded to the surfer having the most fun, and is representative of Andrew’s fun-loving nature and love of all sports, especially including surfing.

Just more proof of the effect Andrew had on people. See the picture below of Andrew (on the left) and his brother Johnny on a memorable surf trip to Tofino, BC.

Missing you always…

Here are the details of the Nutts Cup that got sent into Hockey Night in Canada:

The Guts Cup is an annual outdoor hockey tournament that’s been played by members of the Guts recreational men’s league hockey team out of Vancouver, BC since 2003. It’s a celebration of the friendships amongst team members and the spirit of the game played outdoors amongst the mountains that’s a truly Canadian experience. Past tournaments have been played in Manning Park, the Mile High Resort outside of Meritt, and now the Apex Ski Resort near Penticton.

Andrew attended the Guts Cup for a few years prior to beginning his service where he had some great and memorable times and made an impression on everyone. Each year once the tournament is complete the group comes up with an annual tourney name to put on the trophy along with the names of that year’s winners. In previous years it’s been known as “The Controversy Cup” and “The Cowboy Cup” among others, and this year we’ll be proactively naming the tournament “The Nutts Cup”, in honour of our beloved friend Andrew. He’ll have his name engraved as an honorary team member of the winning team as another way to remember him for the great friend he was and the hero he is.

We will all miss Andrew at this year’s tournament, and those who knew him well will never stop missing him. Andrew was the best of us, and he represented those unselfish Canadian ideals overseas in his attempt to make a difference and help those who are suffering injustice and tyranny. He risked himself to protect all of us, and the way of life we’re all privileged to enjoy. He is a true Canadian hero.

The tournament was a great success, and many of us felt Andrew’s presence there. We knew it for sure, though, when Andrew’s brother John led his team to victory against all odds. It was only fitting that in the first Nutts Cup Johnny and Andrew would have their names on it together, with the rest of the winning team.

Until next year…

Lieutenant Andrew Richard Nuttall, or ‘Andy’, ‘Drew’ or ‘Nutts’ as he was known, was killed while leading his men in 12 Platoon, 1^st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, in Afghanistan. 

Andy started his personal website, ‘Nuttman.info’,  in 2002. His family and friends have decided to maintain and develop Nuttman.info in his memory as an ongoing tribute to him. We will be posting new pictures, music, announcements, and other material.

If you have any content or updates that you think might help us all continue to remember Andrew, please email andynutts at gmail.com.

Richard Nuttall.

Hi all!

In order to be as open as I can i’m now going to post these updates on my website, although I am going to have to be a bit less specific, but i promise it won’t take away from the story. As well I’m posting some new pictures with this update so it should be a good one!

The last I left you was saying I was moving to a new house with no internet. Well many things have changed, yet many things stay the same. The new place was working out excellently for us, and a platoon of ANA (afghan national army) which we started to work with very closely. We spent many long days fixing and improving our compound, as well as the typical patroling around our AO. The situation around this new home was much more tense and fragile than our last, the last time the locals saw any uniformed troops was some americans who ran through the place guns blazing. As such they were quite wary, and so were we because of the high amount of insurgent presense we were expecting. Either way though during all of the days we’ve spent there nothing kinetic (aka fighting) has gone on, and that is relatively typical of the situation here. On one side the people are frightened, impoverished, and seek nothing but safety and prosperity for their families. On the other side is a very small subset of a combination of extreme Salafist muslims (aka seeking to impose an extremist version of islam on the entire world), anti-western mercenaries, and misguided brainwashed (generally) youths that utilize cowardice hit-and-run and ied tactics in order to sway the civilain population of afghanistan and north america to pull their troops out. Then there is us in the middle, an array of nations trying to combine our traditionally conventional forces and conduct combined operations with the young but capable ANA (and young but immature Afghan National Police, ANP), in a barren country with many more needs than just militaristic. Complicated, yes, confusing, only a bit, frustrating, unfortunatly too much.

But back to my situation, I spent my first bit of time there talking a lot to the locals together with the ANA. One of our biggest force multipliers is the combined arms team we’ve got working together, the CIMIC people (aka reconstruction and projects), PSYOPS (aka local messaging), engineers, armoured people, and the afghan government (ANA and ANP). Together we can really do some good, when the people are on board. Sometimes the people aren’t as what was happening with me, either their frightened or don’t realize what we can do and it takes time to convince them through actions that we are there to stay and not gone with the next change in winds. So as I was beginning to make some heady with the locals and get more information/weapon and ied caches and such, the platoon recieved another surprise. We had to move another time!

Now usually moving around is no big deal, but it definetly throws a wrench into the plans (plus we’ve got to fit in our foosball table!). Either way we found ourselves moving not too far down the road, which works out well as the new place is close to the village we’re trying to improve and is more comfortable. I tried to include as many pictures of the place we’re in now, most of the troops live in the mud hut, while the hq staff is outside in the tent. The mud hut themselves are only a bit dusty (and mouse infested), but are really warm at night and cooler during the day (perfect for afghanistan weather). Plus we’re slowly building up some other nice morale boosting amenities, warm water for showers, a dvd player, a gym with actual weights (instead of sandbags), and of course we’ve got the foosball table and dart board plus many board games. The longer we stay here the better it gets.

The other big event that happened was Eid. Its the muslim version of christmas, all of the locals will go home with their families and cook big meals. I had the lucky chance to be at 2 different Eid dinner celebrations with the ANA, where we butchered some local goat and sheep, boiled it in a curry like water, and had it with the best tasting basil i’ve had, of course lots of rice, and huge pomogranetes for desert. Wow it was so delicious, and so much food we all were stuffed! (Though i missed out on the heart and liver soup, and brain pate. Apperently it was delicious, i wanted to try).  After the first Eid meal there was a big dance party, the ANA put on a very scratchy speaker with the usual shrieky arab music. That is when the night started getting a bit gay, you could see that some of the ANA probably joined for the booty, luckily i had to run to attend to the radio. On the second Eid dinner afterwards we sat around and talked for almost 2 hours, it actually was fun sharing stories and jokes.

Another big (ish) piece of news that some of you may know already, but my tour is being extended over here. Since canada seems determined to pull out at the end of 2011, their going to extend the last three tours, starting with mine. The effect they’ve told us is only a 3 week extension. But from what I can infer, the effect it will have on me will turn my 6 month tour into almost 8 months. Since I have to be the first one in and last one out, I’m guessing i’ll be back sometime mid June (though thats a total guess now). All of us here (including me) are not worried about this extention. We all believe in what we’re doing and an extra few weeks isn’t going to hurt anyone in the long run (as long as we maintain our vigilance of course). Plus if I end up getting home then, i’ll get to celebrate my b-day with lots of friends and family. Also loop my post-deployment leave into summer leave and get my vacation mustache growing! Heh, but that is waay far away and i’m really not thinking of that. I tend to look about 72hrs to a week out, keeps me from getting distracted.

Well, i’m off back to the command post to get back to the battle. I can’t believe that its almost December, feels like time is flying! Though its getting really cold now. The nights and morning it might even be 0 and even during the middle of the day its not super intense hot (though still those of us not on mission will try to get some rays on our pasty white farmer-tans). There’s even been a couple big rain and thunderstorms, very surprising as they came up really fast, though don’t usually last long (max an hour), and its nice to wet the ground and get the dust down. Though after we see lots of local activity as they will get out and tend to their crops because water is definetly a scarce commodity that these people are very efficient users of.

Thank you very much everyone for your emails and care packages! I will do my absolute best to answer every message, and every package recieved feels like christmas! (Actually my first happy day here was when i got a nice care package from a grandmother in greenwood, ns. A random one i definetly was not expecting, but definetly a huge lift of the spirits).  Keep sending me updates of all of the great times you will have in the winter. I hear that the west coast is getting an early snow, thats fantastic, wish i could be the for the snowboarding! Please all stay healthy and live everything to the fullest!!

Much love to all, andrew

Andrew

Hi all!

Well here I am now almost 1 month on the ground in Afghanistan, and
woh boy does it feel as if I’ve been here for ages! Busy is the
standard around here, which is by far the way we like it as it keeps
the mind (mostly) from wandering to nicer places not in this country
(back home, upcoming hlta, etc). Now that everyone of our guys are
here, we’ve jumped to full bore operations; doing a lot of patrols
(walking and driving), shura’s with local leaders, finding and
exploiting IEDs like their going out of style, and much of the usual
army stuff. When the Vandoos got to my place, the area was a rats nest
of bad guy activity. Through their time and now my time here we’ve
made huge leaps and bounds forward security and development wise. All
of the locals respect what we bring to the table much more than the
Taliban, even though its in an Afghan’s nature to always play both
sides. I’ve found everything about it very rewarding as I can actually
see the progress made toward a better future.

Though not everything is rosy and nice. As you’ve all probably heard
our battle group has already lost 2 really good guys to IEDs. Both
were friends of mine, Justin was a really good friend. I appreciate
all of your rememberance day and well wishes. All of us here are very
proud to be doing this, no one is doubting thier decision to be here,
and all of us know how strongly we are supported by great people like
yourselves back home.

On a lighter note, you may see my photo in the Times Colonist. I
hosted the minister of defense and minister of industry and pamela
wallen from the cbc here. Showed them around my little area of
operations and talked about the local security and development
situation. You may notice me by my large red mostuashe Our corner
of the country is quite a popular one with many of the in and out of
country big wigs, but as usual happens everywhere when it rains it
pours. Everytime they show up it seems as if the rats nest stirs up
and we’re running to trap ‘em again. But its all fun, a wierd kinda
roughin it kind of fun, but we’ve got some good stories. For example,
i had a shura where most of the old men decided they really wanted a
peice of one of my “security advisors” and flirted with him as much as
they could, I could barely hold back the laughter as he was blushing
up a storm trying to explain that he had a wife in canada, though none
of them believed him and some were quite desparte to get him home,
offering up land and guesthouses!

The situation around here seems to continually be up in the air, so I
really don’t know how the rest of the tour is going to look like. But
the one thing I know for sure is I highly doubt I’ll see very much of
KAF, which pleases me because the place just feels like a gigantic
mega base, and really I can do without the extra niceities like fresh
coffee and shopping boulevards. We’ve got cold showers, a mini gym, a
bunch of jimboogily’s (aka junk food), afghan food, occasional phone
access (when it works and there are no operations going on), some slow
internet, dusty hot days and cold desert nights. Whats to complain
about!!

I appreciate very much all of the emails I’ve recieved to date. They
are the best distraction I have around from the daily bump and grind.
I really wish everyone nothing but the best, stay healthy and have a
great time adventuring!

Andrew

Well its day 3 in country now, and i’m right out in the countryside!  This beginning feels like super fast waterslide into a completey different world.  We had a comparitively lush ride from Edmonton to Cyprus on an Air Italy plane, then onto one of canada’s new C117 globemasters for a dizzying 5hr ride into KAF.  24hrs in total and literally on the the other side of the world!

Kandahar Air Base (KAF) is so much more than I was expecting in all aspects!  There is almost 35,000 people there now (and will be way more by the end of my tour), from a lot of different countries (US, UK, Australia, France, Belguim, Netherlands, Germany, to name the ones i’ve seen).  The place is soo built up, tons of buildings, cement walls around everything, lots of vehicles ripping around (the place has morning and evening traffic jams!), a promenade with different stores (timmys, oakley, subway, pizza hut, carpet stores, different country military stores, and more).  On top of it the airfield is incredibly busy, i’d say easily as busy or busier than toronto or montreal international airport.  The very wierd thing is that being in KAF is definetly not like being in afghanistan, the entire time I felt like a tourist.  I didn’t spend very much time there at all, just enough to get the usual briefings, pack my kit, get a bit or rest, then I was on a chinook helicopter out to the countryside.

Things here are alright (i’ve ony fired my weapon at a pop can), we’ve got a lot of food and other goodies, some very slow internet, a cot to sleep on, and even a shower with wamish water.  The temperature is nothing to complain about, feels like a canadian summer, 30ish in the day, 5ish in the night, and not a cloud in the sky.  The locals are all very friendly too, to them we are like cable tv.  I’m in the middle of the relief-in-place here with the Vandoos (who have done an excellent job around here at least), while I wait for the rest of my platoon to arrive.  Things are busy, but definetly not overwhelming.  All in all, its nothing to complain about.

I hope everyone is doing very well, I’ll try to send some pictures when I get another chance.  Stay healthy and enjoy yourselves!  Much love to all!

Andrew

Well this has been a very long time coming, but finally I’ve made a new mix! This time I’ve gotten together all of the best trance tracks I’ve found recently that have been making me move and thrown ‘em together. I think the mixing is pretty good, especially considering my very low tech minimal setup. I hope you all enjoy this and I can’t wait to make some more, so please, I’d love all constructive criticism!

I am dedicating this mix to the fantastic group of people I work with everyday. These people have quickly and forcefully become my family away from home, I consider myself lucky to have known them and will try everyday to exceed their high expectations.

Nuttman - At Least Its Not The Red Slide (Sep 2009)

01 - Mat Zo - Rush
02 - Orbital - Halcyon (Tom Middleton Re-model)
03 - Galore - Sunshine (Klems Remix)
04 - John O’Callaghan ft Lo-Fi Sugar - Never Fade Away (Andy Dugiud Mix Edit)
05 - Cold Blue - Mount Everest (Dennis Sheperd Remix)
06 - Above & Beyond present OceanLab - I Am What I Am (Lange Remix)
07 - Tiesto & Sneaky Sound System - I Will Be Here (Wolfgang Gartner Remix)
08 - Adam Nickey - In Motion
09 - Moony - I Don’t Know Why (DJ Chus & Jerome Isma-Ae Superdub Mix)
10 - John O’Callaghan ft Sarah Howells - Find Yourself (Cosmic Gate Remix)
11 - Ronski Speed ft Mque - Are You? (Sun Decade Mix)
12 - Calvin Harris - I’m Not Alone (Tiesto Remix)
13 - Breakfast - Air Guitar
14 - Marc Marberg with Kyau & Albert - Grrreat
15 - Dan Stone - Mumbai (Cressida Remix)
16 - Hybrid - Finished Symphony (Deadmau5 Remix)
17 - Cliff Coenraad - Gone South
18 - Muse - Bliss