It’s been nearly 15 years, but Lloyd Smith still remembers everything about his son, Pte. Nathan Smith.
“You never forget. You just learn to deal with it better over time,” Lloyd said Monday. “Time is the only thing you got on your side. You just don’t forget, the feelings never go away.”
Nathan was on his second tour of duty when he was killed on April 17, 2002 in Kandahar, along with three other Canadian paratroopers.
They were the first of 159 Canadians who made the supreme sacrifice in the Afghanistan conflict.
READ MORE: Timeline: Canadian deaths in Afghanistan
This week, a monument honouring Pte. Nathan Smith will be unveiled at his former school in Musquodobit Harbour, N.S. The Smith family says it means a lot to them that people continue to remember the sacrifice their son made for his country.
“It’s good to know that people are still out there after 15 years that they’re prepared to do this on behalf of our son,” said Lloyd.
“You know, you think people forget, but they don’t, they don’t.”
In 2003, Nathan’s mother, Charlotte Smith, was named the Silver Cross Mother and laid a wreath in her son’s memory at the National War Monument in Ottawa.
WATCH: Travelling Afghanistan Memorial Vigil makes stop in Halifax
Since losing his son, Lloyd Smith says he has more gratitude for those who don a uniform and serve.
“I have a much greater appreciation for anybody that’s a first responder of any kind but especially the military,” Lloyd said.
“We live in a military town and you see those uniforms all the time and they just become part of the background. But once you get in to this situation, you realize what they actually do and how dangerous that job is.”
The monument for Pte. Smith will be unveiled at the Eastern Shore District High School on Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
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