Surveillance and presence in Lerma

As is becoming normal during operation ‘Balmis’, members of the 11th Campaign Artillery Regiment (RACA, to use the Spanish acronym) have been assigned to carry out a surveillance mission. On Wednesday the 22nd of April, the mission was in the town of Lerma in Burgos, the biggest town to which my squad has been deployed so far. The reception and welcome from the people was excellent and, from the first moment, we felt satisfied. The people’s warmth and applause, recognising our simple act of being in their streets, made us feel proud of the work we had carried out.

The job was carried out calmly, and we saw very few pedestrians or incidences of note due to the restrictions of access to public spaces. When we approached a central park, Private López and I saw something that seemed strange. An elderly man was sitting on the kerb on the road, looking sad. When he noticed us, the poor elderly man, who was nervous and somewhat disorientated, took a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket and began to explain to us that he had left to go shopping and, by accident, had forgotten the keys to his home inside. He went on to explain that the wrinkled piece of paper carried his son’s number, but the man didn’t have a mobile phone or any way to contact his son. Without hesitation, we called his relative to let him know what had happened. We stayed with the elderly man, sharing some pleasant conversation to help calm him down and reassure him that the situation wasn’t too serious, until his son appeared with the keys to his house.

Finally, once the situation was resolved, we continued with our surveillance work, but not before both father and son had thanked us for what was, for us, a small gesture, but for them was an important story.