N.B. base in mourning as soldiers' names released
N.B. base in mourning as soldiers' names released
Monday, April 9, 2007
CBC News
At least five of the six Canadian soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on the weekend were from Atlantic Canada, while the family of the sixth soldier has requested the name not be released.
[...]
Five of the six dead soldiers were members of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, based out of CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
All day, yesterday, after the news broke that six Canadians were dead in the deadly southern region of Afghanistan, an unease seemed to fall over everything. They were almost certainly to be from the local base, CFB Gagetown, attached to the nearby community of Oromocto (pop. 9,000). Almost certainly. But unconfirmed. It was like the community was mourning-in-waiting. It would be such a huge loss in such a small community.
This morning they confirmed it.
ronnie
Labels: New Brunswick
posted by ronnie at
9:47 a.m.
5 Comments:
My condolences to your community, ronnie. Numbers mean nothing to the individual families concerned, but to lose so many at once who were connected to such a small community must be devastating for the rest.
Thank you, Sherwood.
I was too gutted to write more than a few sentences yesterday, but what you said perfectly captures what I was (and will, probably, in a more articulate future post) trying to convey - for the actual families, the loss is personal and inestimable, and would be whether it was six from Gagetown or one from Toronto or New York City. The story for the community (Oromocto and Fredericton, where the military base is a significant presence) is the collective sense of shock and the scale of the loss (six gone, just like that), and how the incident resonates through such a small community of tightly-knit military families here and in Gagetown.
No one was able to speak of anything else yesterday.
ronnie
Please accept my condolences, too. What a heart-breaking situation. There have been articles here recently about the disproportionate toll that fatalities in Iraq have placed on small, rural communities. About half the US troops are from rural areas, and about 60% of the fatalities are, too. That's so cruel. It infuriates me now to see those effing USArmy recruitment ads on TV showing young farm kids (boys) and poor urban kids (girls) explaining to their parents that the Army is their only chance to get to college. Talk about a Faustian bargain! "Sure, kid...with good luck, you won't have to a) kill anybody yourself or b) be killed, and then you can go to college after four (or maybe eight with the extended tours being shoved on the kids) years."
Ronnie, this news struck close for my family as well, one of the soldiers was a school friend of my daughter here in Saint John. A very sad day for all Canadian's. My heart goes out to the family and friends of all the brave young men and women who serve our county not only those in far away places or just the military, we owe a great debt to everyone who chooses to serve and protect, military, police, fire fighters, rescue workers and countless others, god bless them all.
As a Canadian, I'm deeply disturbed by the "war" in Afghanistan. Candians are best at peacekeeping, not warring. I'm so sad for the 53 families who have lost loved ones. In my opinion that's 53 too many brave young men and women lost.
I mentioned them on my blog about Vimy Ridge at the beginning of the week.
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