We were the first Canadians on the ground and part of a team sent to search out a site to set up a Canadian base camp. We got to know the local vendors and I told them they could set up outside the camp and sell their wares.

Having military personnel in the area from twelve different countries made the handling of currency a real challenge, so I made a deal with the head of the vendors. At the end of each day I would buy all the foreign currency from them and give them U.S. dollars.

The idea was just great and it worked well for a while, until my own guys started to buy stuff with a new kind of currency. The guys loved watching me buy back all of their Canadian Tire money with U.S. dollars!