KANDAHARAIRFIELD, Afghanistan — As thousands of soldiers saluted and a lone piper played a sad lament on New Year’s Day, the flag-draped caskets of four Canadian soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang were solemnly borne to C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to begin the 10,000 kilometre journey back to Canada.
Lang, 34, who was a reporter for the Calgary Herald, was near the end of her first patrol on Wednesday afternoon when a massive homemade landmine mine blew up under the light armoured vehicle that she was riding in.
Also killed in the attack were Pte. Grant Chidley, 21, of Cambridge, Ont., and Langley, B.C. and 2 Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment of Shilo, Man.; Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, who was a hometown soldier with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment; Sgt. George Miok, 28, also of Edmonton and 41 Combat Engineer Regiment; and Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, of Yarmouth, N.S. and 84 Independent Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery.
"Wednesday, 30 December, 2009, was a dark day for Canada," said Capt. Sandy Scott, an army padre who spoke to the assembly about those who died.
"But the light that brings life to the world will never allow the powers of darkness to overcome the light of Canadians like these. Empowered by the God who brings light out of darkness, we as members of Canada’s army, navy and air force will never let … our country’s character be defeated by sinister or treacherous acts."
Four other soldiers and a diplomat were injured in Wednesday’s attack, which came near dusk near Kandahar City’s southern outskirts, as the patrol was returning to Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction base in the provincial capital.
It was an usually warm and sunny winter’s day, as the caravan of five Canadian armoured vehicles crept silently across the tarmac to a point from which eight pallbearers carried each of the caskets.
Lang’s casket was followed by those of the soldiers, whose berets were laid on the top alongside the Sacrifice Medals that they were awarded posthumously.
Lang’s pallbearers were four soldiers from the military’s Public Affairs branch, two public affairs officers from the department of Foreign Affairs and a sergeant from U.S. military public affairs who is attached to the Canadians because several thousand American troops serve under Canadian command in Kandahar.
Other pallbearers were from the units the fallen soldiers had served with.
There was a private memorial service before the ramp ceremony in the small park by the Canadian task force headquarters where a marble monument carries an etched image of those who have fallen in Canada’s first major military conflict since the Korean War.
During that informal gathering, Lang’s casket was adorned with her photo, a black scarf and a note pad and pencil that was a poignant tribute to her craft.
Friday’s ramp ceremony was attended by long, serried rows of troops from a dozen NATO nations, including most of the 1,000 or so Canadians based at the airfield, which is the logistical hub for the war in the south. Among the mourners was Brig.-Gen. Dan Menard, Canada’s task force commander and a score of senior NATO officers.
With Wednesday’s deaths, 138 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the mission began early in 2002. More than 80 of those deaths have occurred in IED strikes.
Two civilians have died in Kandahar. In addition to Lang, Welsh-born Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry, 60, was killed in January, 2005, when a suicide bomber drove his car into a military convoy.
Three of those who died onWednesday – McCormack, Miok and Taylor – were reservists. Their deaths underscored how critical reservists have become to Canada’s Afghan mission, which has been severely stretched by manpower shortages and repeated deployments.
Seven other Canadian reservists have died previously while on duty in Afghanistan.
Of the 138 soldiers who have died in Afghanistan, 83 of them were killed by improvised explosive devices such as the one used on Wednesday.
The four military deaths on Wednesday brought to 32 the number of Canadian soldiers who died in 2009 – the same number as in 2008.
The highest annual death toll was 36 in 2006.
Lang was the first Canadian journalist to have died in Afghanistan.
A medical reporter for the Calgary Herald, she had gone to the PRT in Kandahar City to report on some of Canada’s many humanitarian projects. Lang had arrived in Kandahar on December 11 for what was to have been a six-week tour of duty.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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