RCMP Officers to travel the Highway of Heroes Red Friday 22 Jan 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Two RCMP officers killed in last week's earthquake have begun their final journey home.
A ramp ceremony was held today at the airport in Port-au-Prince for Sgt. Mark Gallagher and Supt. Doug Coates.
The RCMP said in a release Wednesday that the bodies of Supt. Doug Coates and Sgt. Mark Gallagher will arrive at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont., in the afternoon.
Coates, who lived in Gatineau, Que., and was based at the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa, was the most senior RCMP officer in Haiti. He had devoted much of his career to making Haiti a more peaceful and stable place.
Coates's body was found in the rubble of the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince on Saturday following the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Gallagher held posts throughout the Maritimes during his career, including in Moncton, N.B.
He was in Port-au-Prince as part of a UN training force when the earthquake hit. His body was found last Thursday in rubble of the building where he had been living.
Gallagher had lived in Halifax, and acted as the RCMP spokesman for Halifax and the New Brunswick cities of Moncton and Bathurst until he left for Haiti. His family is in New Brunswick, where Gallagher had been scheduled to return and resume work with the force.
May God give the families strength during this grievous trip along the Highway of Heroes my sincere condolences to family , friends, and their brother and sister Officers of these men. May they never be forgotten. R I P.
Please show your support for our RCMP in their time of sadness. Always Remember Everyone Deployed
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
