In these days of instant communication, it is very stressful and disheartening for any spouse,mother, father or child to hear this on the news:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Canadian Forces say one of its members has been killed in a suicide blast in Kabul earlier today.
Maj. Daryl Morrell says the military is still in the process of notifying next of kin and is not disclosing the person's identity nor rank.
A Taliban suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in Kabul, killing a total of six military personnel _ five of them Americans.
Twelve Afghan civilians also died, many of them in a public bus in rush hour traffic.
Ten or twelve hours later the NOK have been notified of their dreadful loss. What can we do about this? Journalists sell stories and asking them to hold off foe a few hours is not well received. Canadian Journalists tend to hold onto the story until the NOK have been formally notified, But the others do not.
Sadly the Royal Canadian Regiment has lost another soldier. Col Geoff Parker Canada has paid the price of yet another Soldier dying while serving his country. However the saddest loss of all is to his wife and two young sons, who will never see him, hug him, kiss him nor indeed speak with him. The Invisible Army suffers again.
Ontario-Born Colonel Dies in Massive Blast A Canadian colonel - the highest-ranking Canadian Forces member to die in Afghanistan - was among 18 people killed Tuesday in a suicide car bombing in Kabul. The dead Canadian was identified as Col. Geoff Parker, 42, of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Remember our service people in your prayers and the family of Col Parker. Their tragic loss is also Canada's loss.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
Deadly Bombing
Dion Nissenbaum/MCT
Blood seeps into the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan at the site of a deadly car bomb attack, Tuesday, May 18, 2010. The early morning blast appeared to target a NATO convoy on a busy road near Afghanistan's parliament, Afghan army training center and U.S. military base.
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urlsdataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entryid=583370pid=583369uts=1274201990
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Deadly Bombing
Blood seeps into the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan at the site of a deadly car bomb attack, Tuesday, May 18, 2010. The early morning blast appeared to target a NATO convoy on a busy road near Afghanistan's parliament, Afghan army training center and U.S. military base.
Dion Nissenbaum/MCT
AP
The Day in Photos
Oil boom barriers that are expected to stop the spread of oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster, lies washed up on the beach after heavy swells and winds hit the coast of Louisiana on April 30, 2010. A giant oil slick threatened economic and environmental devastation as it closed in on Louisiana's vulnerable coast, prompting the US government to declare a national disaster. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency and called for urgent help to prevent fragile wetlands and vital fishing communities along the coast from pollution on a massive scale. The wind started to strengthen and blow the 600-square-mile (1,550-square-kilometer) slick directly onto the coast, where a rich variety of wildlife were at risk in the maze of marshes that amounts to 40 percent of the US wetlands.
The Day in Photos
Dr. Erica Miller, left, and Danene Birtell with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research work to help a Northern Gannet bird, normally white when full grown, which is covered in oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, at a facility in Fort Jackson, La., Friday, April 30, 2010.
The Day in Photos
Members of the media photograph and film a car that crashed close to location of the launch of an election poster campaign, by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in Birmingham, central England on April 30, 2010. Brown and other senior members of his cabinet were in Birmingham for the launch of their party's final election campaign poster, prior to the May 6 general election.
The Day in Photos
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy smile while visiting the 2010 World Expo, in Shanghai, China, Friday, April 30 2010.
The Day in Photos
Black smoke billows across the Toronto skyline after a fire erupted at the top of a downtown condo building Thursday, April 29, 2010.
The Day in Photos
Fisheries biologist Lyndsey Howell, right, and Shelley Harkness dig a grave in the sand for a dead Kemp's ridley turtle, foreground, Monday, April 26, 2010 in Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. The orange spray paint was put on the shell to identify the turtle. The number of strandings on these shores is double what scientists and volunteers normally see as the turtles begin nesting in April, says Howell, who patrols the beaches as part of her job with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Day in Photos
Oil booms that were placed in preparation of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are seen strewn along the shoreline from choppy seas in Port Eads, Thursday, April 29, 2010.
The Day in Photos
This April 28, 2010 image made from video released by the Deepwater Horizon Response Unified Command, shows an in situ burn in the Gulf of Mexico, in response to the oil spill after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon.
The Day in Photos
Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan celebrates after scoring against Liverpool during their Europa League semifinal second leg soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Thursday April 29, 2010.
The Day in Photos
Residents of Ottawa's Fallingbrook neighbourhood were unsettled to discover a series of break-ins involving women's undergarments have now been linked to Col. Russell Williams, left, the former air force base commander accused of killing two women. Courtney Cochrane, 29, right, says it's scary that the same person charged in a break-in at her parents house is also charged with two counts of murder.
The Day in Photos
Parker was born and raised in Oakville, Ont. A 1990 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Parker was married with two young sons, according to his military biography. U.S. forces spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks earlier confirmed that five of the dead were American. I strongly condemn the suicide attack today in Kabul, which has led to the death of Afghan civilians and ISAF soldiers, and injuries to many more Afghans, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which happened early Tuesday in a west Kabul neighbourhood near an army recruitment centre and many government buildings. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, saying women and children were among the victims. At least 12 Afghan civilians were killed and 47 people were injured in the attack, which struck at least five NATO vehicles, a bus and a number of private cars. It was morning rush hour, the street packed with traffic, the sidewalk crowded with pedestrians, journalist Tom Popyk said, noting that American troops moved into the area after the blast to assist with rescue efforts. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a phone call from an undisclosed location that the bomber was a man from Kabul and his car was packed with 750 kilograms of explosives. The attacker targeted foreign forces, he said. Tuesday's bombing is the deadliest attack on NATO forces in the capital since September, when a suicide blast killed six Italian soldiers. The attack comes as NATO readies a major offensive in the southern province of Kandahar, a major Taliban stronghold. With files from The Associated Press
