The word HERO evokes images of great bravery and untold sacrifices. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines a hero as “a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life." The term hero is also often overused to the point of rendering it nearly meaningless.
The stories below, from our neighbors, brothers and sister to the North, do justice to the term hero. Please read on. Thank you.
DADDY IS FINALLY HOME
(Story by Bruce Ward, The Ottowa Citizen)
With her teddy bear clutched in one hand and a long-stemmed red rose in the other, four-year-old Rowan Shipway watched intently as a flag-draped coffin was carried from the CF Airbus to the shiny hearse.
Her daddy was finally home.
Sgt. Scott Shipway, the 97th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, was honoured here Wednesday in a moving repatriation ceremony held on a sunny afternoon. By now, Canadians are becoming numbingly familiar with the TV pictures from these ceremonies -- the solemn honour guard, the impassive dignitaries, the piper's lament.
Civilians and emergency crews on a Brighton-area overpass pay tribute to Sgt. Scott Shipway yesterday as a hearse carries the body of the fallen Canadian soldier along the Highway of Heroes, a stretch of the 401 that runs from CFB Trenton to Toronto.
Jean Levac, The Ottawa Citizen
But nothing prepares an onlooker for the heartbroken wails of a little girl with buttery hair who has lost her father. As Rowan clung to her mother, Diana Kaczmar, her sobs carried across the tarmac.
Her six-year-old brother, Hayden, who wore a baseball cap, stood silently by his grandfather.
Sgt. Shipway, an infantryman with the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., was killed Sept. 7 when his armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device during a security patrol in Panjwaii District. Seven other soldiers were injured in the explosion.
For more about Rowan follow the link below:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=23dbbe7e-789f-46d2-ba26-03ad7ab0a191
More about heroes...
Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke once remarked: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
The three good men below did their duty, and made the ultimate sacrifice, in order to keep us all safe from the forces of evil that seek nothing better than to destroy all that is good and dear to our society.
FALLEN SOLDIERS TO TRAVEL HIGHWAY OF HEROES
When the bodies of three more Canadian soldiers are brought home from Afghanistan on Monday, mourners will gather along the sides of the Highway of Heroes to remember the men whose deaths pushed Canada's troop casualties to 100 in the war-torn country.
The fallen soldiers are Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren, Warrant Officer Robert John Wilson and Pte. Demetrios Diplaros, all members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment based out of Petawawa, Ont.
They were killed Friday morning after the armoured vehicle they were travelling in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED).
Their remains are due to arrive at Ontario's CFB Trenton at 2 p.m. ET on Monday afternoon.
Their surviving families will take part in a repatriation ceremony at the base, and then ride in a motorcade along the Highway of Heroes to Toronto.
It's a scene that has been repeated many times since the start of the Afghanistan mission, which generally brings hundreds of Canadians to the sides of the 172-kilometre stretch of Highway 401, holding flags, watching and saluting the motorcade as it passes by.
Historian Jack Granatstein has said the outpouring of emotion Canadians have shown for their fallen war heroes in recent years is "quite extraordinary."
"I have never seen anything in my life like the crowds that line Highway 401," he told The Canadian Press recently.
"Extraordinary displays of public sentiment in all kinds of weather, ranging from heat to cold to rain. The same crowds are out there all the time."
For more about Canada's soldiers and the Highway of Heroes, please follow the link below.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081207/highway_heroes_081207/20081207?hub=Canada
Note: One of our own members will be present at the Higway to pay a final tribute to his comrades.
DJ, we will be there with you, in spirit if not in body, holding your hand as your brothers ride by for one last time.
1 comment:
Deb, don't forget American, and other Coalition, soldiers who have died in this war. They too have families and friends who mourn their passing. They are all heroes.
Post a Comment