As with all deaths in the military, the sadness travels like ripples in the water. Sgt George Miok was a teacher well respected by his students at St Cecilias, school. A fine Canadian who paid the ultimate price in the name of Canada.
CALGARY (CBC) - Crisis counsellors were on hand Monday at an Edmonton junior high school to help students deal with the death of Sgt. George Miok, a teacher and Canadian reservist who was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan last week.
Miok was killed along with three other soldiers and a journalist in the Dec. 23 attack.
Students at St. Cecilia School wrote notes to the man they knew as Mr. Miok on white squares of paper and pinned them to a memorial that was created on a hallway bulletin board.
Mr. Miok he was the best ever, said Marie Bolianatz, 13. He always made us laugh and smile, and when we were in a not-so-great mood, he would always come to us and sit down with us and make us smile and just try to just help us out.
Miok, 28, was a contract teacher who taught physical education at the Catholic junior high school during the 2008-09 school year.
Bolianatz remembered Miok, who was her homeroom, religion and health teacher, as a peaceful man whom she described as being like a super-hero.
He always wanted us to be peaceful and not to fight with anybody, she said. He wanted us to be the best we could be.
Grade 8 student Daniel Deck said he got the news of his physical education teacher's death from one of his friends on Facebook.
I loved almost everything about him. He was a cool guy. I respected him, Deck said, who also remembered Miok for his ability to quiet down some of the hooligans in class
Miok was also remembered by teacher Ross Caria for his big infectious smile and the stories he told while tending bar in the evenings at a downtown Edmonton pub. The suddenness of Miok's death makes it hard for people to accept, Caria said.
Most staff saw him a few months ago when he came to visit the school just before he left for his deployment to Afghanistan, he said, and I think nobody ever really expects to say goodbye for a final time when they see someone.
Six crisis counsellors were on hand at the school Monday to help students and staff deal with their grief. They will remain on site for the next two days and return when the school has a memorial service, which is planned for later this week, said Sandra Talarico, the co-ordinator of the crisis response team.
Sometimes its the memorial service that brings out deeper feelings that we find that we need to work with the students on, she said.
Miok, who grew up in Sherwood Park, east of Edmonton, was a member of the 41 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Edmonton.
He was killed in the attack along with Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, also from Sherwood Park; Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, of Yarmouth, N.S.; Pte. Garrett William Chidley, 21, of Langley, B.C. and Michelle Lang, 34, a reporter with the Calgary Herald who was originally from Vancouver.
Whatever civilian job these reservists work at. Their service and dedication to the military is a sign of Canada's pride.
Remember Everyone Deployed
Nil Sine labore
Robby
