Three soldiers travel the highway of Heroes.
CFB TRENTON, Ont. - The wife of one of three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week who spoke eloquently about her husband following his death burst into tears Friday as she approached his casket during a repatriation ceremony attended by some 300 people.
Warrant Officer Dennis Brown, Cpl. Dany Fortin and Cpl. Kenneth O'Quinn were killed Tuesday when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armoured vehicle during a patrol in Afghanistan's Arghandab district, northwest of Kandahar City. Two other soldiers were injured in the explosion.
The casket carrying Brown was the first to be lowered from the military aircraft as his widow Mishelle - clutching a small Canadian flag and red rose - and her daughter and Brown's three sons looked on. Fortin's casket came next, followed by O'Quinn's.
As pallbearers carried Brown's casket to a waiting hearse, his grief-stricken widow swayed back and forth, often looking to the sky. She and the children began weeping as they approached the hearse to pay their respects to Brown, a reservist who served with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment in southern Ontario.
Fortin, a 29-year-old air force member based in Bagotville, Que., had been in Afghanistan since last September and was set to return in April.
O'Quinn, who was born in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L., was based at CFB Petawawa, Ont.
The three deaths brought to 111 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002. Five of those deaths have come this year.
A larger-than-normal crowd of supporters gathered Friday outside the fence surrounding CFB Trenton on a sunny, balmy afternoon, with many clad in red and waving Canadian flags.
Carol Honey travelled about three hours from her home in Kitchener, Ont., to attend the ceremony and support Brown's family. Honey said her son, Cpl. Brandon Honey, was a member of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, which Brown had commanded.
We're coming to bring home Dennis, she said, fighting back tears. He touched my son's life a lot.
Honey said she also wanted to lend moral support to Brown's widow, who started a support group for the families of regiment members.
We're here today for her and Dennis, Honey said. We're going to be there for years to come, because it's not a one-day thing.
Heather Cockerline, who described herself as a friend of the O'Quinn family, said she felt compelled to attend the ceremony.
It felt like the right thing to do to come and support them, she said.
This hits close to home. We really realize the sacrifice the military makes for us.
On Wednesday, Mishelle Brown spoke at length to the media about her husband, saying she supported his decision to deploy to Afghanistan even though she knew he might die in the line of duty.
At the end of Friday's hour-long repatriation ceremony, Brown rolled down the window of her limousine so she could wave the Canadian flag to mourners as she left the base.
As has become customary, the soldiers were saluted from overpasses as the convoy carrying their bodies travelled from CFB Trenton to Toronto along the section of Highway 401 known as the Highway of Heroes
Repectfull Proud Canadians.
Farther down the Highway. More proud Canadians.Showing their collective Respect.
The following article from The Sun was sent to me by Sandi F. who is also a veteran. Thank you
Her eyes were as red as the Canadian flag she was waving.
Crying for two straight days will do that. But military spouses are a special breed all their own. They get knocked down but have an ability to get back up.
And with that Maple Leaf in one hand and tissue in the other, a clearly shaken Mishelle Brown, widow of Warrant Officer Dennis Brown, leaned out of her limousine window to the crowd gathered on Grenville St. and said thank you.
Hundreds of police officers, parking enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS professionals, supporters and even tourists gathered to witness the end of the repatriation of three more fallen in Afghanistan.
Many of them later said as she was thanking them they were thinking, No, it should be thank you!
And thank you to your fallen husband for his sacrifice -- and the sacrifice you and your four children will have to endure in the future.
It was a long day for Brown, who was down on the tarmac and determined to stand alone by the hearse and take a good look at her husband's flag-drapped casket.
Her husband, along with Cpl. Dany Fortin and Cpl. Kenneth O'Quinn were brought back to Canadian soil yesterday after dying in a ruthless and sneaky improvised explosive device attack.
When their three hearses turned east on to Grenville from Bay St., Mishelle Brown was not the only one crying.
Two dozen fellow Niagara Region police officers came by bus to pay respect to fellow officer Brown, a St. Catharines native and a special constable with the Niagara Regional Police who was in the war zone as a reservist.
It's hard, said Det. Const. Tracy McCabe of Niagara Region police, whose son is a soldier who served in Bosnia and who knew Brown as well.
The last time she saw him was his send-off party. Of course they were hoping for a welcome home party.
I tried not to think of it, McCabe said of his coming home in a casket.
She said the men and women who worked with him closely are taking it very hard since they had left his desk as is waiting for his return.
On most desks, staplers go missing. Not on his. Everything is exactly where it was.
It really hits home, added Const. Claude Labrie, also a reserve officer in the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, who added he always worried about his friend and all of the soldiers over there.
'A GOOD SOLDIER'
Even the repatriation was one of the saddest things he's been part of. He says Brown was the kind of guy to keep things light. He was hilarious, he said. If you were even looking for comic relief, you would go to him. He was also a good soldier.
There's never laughter here along Grenville St., where 111 Canadians have now travelled to their autopsies before being released back to their families so they can have proper funerals in their hometowns.
But what there always is, is humanity.
This corner is very significant since this is where a mother says goodbye to her son, said Neil Downey.
And, of course, a father too. He would know since his son Brendan was one of the 111 to come through here. He, his wife Angela, daughter Jo-Anna and son Andrew come every time.
You won't get any closer to seeing the real casualties of war than to come down to the Corner of the Courageous at Yonge and Grenville and witness a repatriation of a Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan.
For the average person, it's a split-second taste of the war in Afghanistan right in downtown Toronto.
It's a real close, raw look at the carnage and horror. It's also a snapshot of the courage and bravery.
It really hits you when the escorting officers get out of a limo and come toward the honour guard to shake hands. They are still in their desert camouflage military garb and, as Toronto Police Staff Sgt. Brian Bowman so rightly pointed out, still have the dust of Afghanistan on their boots.
And there will not be much time to wash it off since as soon as their pals are buried they will be on a plane back to the war with a very clear understanding that it could one day very easily be them being carried home in one of those hearses.
It's a difficult reality being undertaken by some special Canadians. Mishelle Brown's words said it best. Thank you!
JOE.WARMINGTON@SUNMEDIA.CA
Something to watch:
Discovery Canada Joins the Army with Combat School. for the most part,all Canadians see of their military these days is helmets, sunglasses and coffins. This show airing Tuesday 10 March on Discovery Canada. Will perhaps show you the life of soldiers that serve Canada.
Notice: The PEI Military Families Centre Benefit Bingo. Has been delayed till Saturday 28 March 2009. Please get your tickets early as this event always sells out.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
