Hero's return
News
Posted By By Ernst Kuglin, QMI Agency
Updated 1 month ago
At 2 p.m. on July 23, the Canadian Forces Polaris Airbus touched down on the tarmac at CFB Trenton. Minutes later, military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket of Sapper Brian Collier, 24, of Bradford from the aircraft, past family members and dignitaries.
A lone piper played the lament, while an honour guard stood at attention. Behind them, a large formation of CFB Trenton personnel paid tribute to their fallen comrade.
As with all repatriation ceremonies, many of the family members held single red roses; others could be seen embracing. They gathered around the hearse, some placing the rose on the casket.
Outside the perimeter fence that separates the sprawling air base from what's known as "Repatriation Row," hundreds of onlookers watched the ceremony in silence. Dozens of Canadian flags had been placed between the links.
Thirteen limousines carried nearly 80 family members and friends from the ramp ceremony, through an honor guard formed by the large crowd, which lined both sides of the road. Dozens of riders from 1 Canadian Army Veterans Motorcycle Unit stood at attention, some saluting as the procession slowly made its way to Highway 401, the Highway of Heroes.
It was Anne Tetro's first repatriation ceremony. The Hudson, Que. resident is the mother of a naval lieutenant aboard the HMCS Protecteur. She was on vacation in Kingston and decided to make the drive west to Trenton. "I've watched many of the ramp ceremonies in Kandahar, and watched the repatriations on television. I've always wanted to be here. For me, it's something to give back and to pay tribute to the fallen and family members."
Overpasses along the route were crowded with citizens who had come to pay their respects. Sapper Collier's home town of Bradford West Gwillimbury provided 3 buses to take residents to the Victoria Park overpass, where they were joined by others who drove down, and by Firefighters with Bradford Fire & Emergency Services, who hung a huge Canadian flag from the aerial ladder truck.
Canadian flags waved, as the motorcade passed.
Sapper Brian Collier was killed on July 20, after dismounting from his armoured vehicle near Nakhonay, southwest of Kandahar, to conduct a foot patrol. He was the 151st Canadian soldier to be killed since the Afghan mission began in 2002.
Among the dignitaries attending the repatriation ceremony were Senator Pamela Wallin, Chief of Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk, and Chief of Land Staff, Lt. Gen. Peter Devlin. Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor Doug White also made the trip, standing with family members on the tarmac.
