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Topic: RSM Robert Girouard, 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. (Read 1426 times)
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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RSM Robert Girouard, killed in action in Southern Afghanistan by a suicide bomber on the 27th of November, 2006.
I knew Bobby way back when. He was a young man who'd already demonstrated a zeal for infanteering. He was a damn fine soldier, mortarman and hockey player. He shall be missed by The Regiment.
Pro Patria, Bob. Rest In Peace .
May I take this opportunity to offer Bob's family my deepest condolences in this time of grief.
CEFCOM/COMFEC NR–06.032 - November 28, 2006
OTTAWA – Two Canadian soldiers were killed on November 27 at approximately 8:35 am (Kandahar time) when their Bison Light Armoured Vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives. The incident occurred on Highway 4 between Kandahar Airfield and Kandahar City. There were no other Canadian casualties.
Killed in the attack were:
* Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group; and
* Corporal Albert Storm, also of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group based in Petawawa, On.
Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Cpl Storm will be greatly missed by all the members of joint Task Force Afghanistan. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten and this event will not prevent us from continuing our operations in Kandahar.
Canadian troops in Afghanistan are serving alongside soldiers and civilians from 36 countries under the NATO-led, UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A key part of Canada’s ‘whole of government’ assistance to Afghanistan is helping to establish the security necessary to promote development.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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NOVEMBER 28, 2006 - 09:08 ET
DND: Two Canadian Soldiers Killed by Suicide Bomber
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 28, 2006) - Two Canadian soldiers were killed on November 27 at approximately 8:35 am (Kandahar time) when their Bison Light Armoured Vehicle was attacked by a suicide bomber driving a car laden with explosives. The incident occurred on Highway 4 between Kandahar Airfield and Kandahar City. There were no other Canadian casualties.
Killed in the attack were:
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group; and
Corporal Albert Storm, also of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group based in Petawawa, On.
Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Cpl Storm will be greatly missed by all the members of joint Task Force Afghanistan. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten and this event will not prevent us from continuing our operations in Kandahar.
Canadian troops in Afghanistan are serving alongside soldiers and civilians from 36 countries under the NATO-led, UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). A key part of Canada's 'whole of government' assistance to Afghanistan is helping to establish the security necessary to promote development.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Slain Canadians were seasoned soldiers
Nov. 27, 2006. 10:31 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
The two Canadian soldiers killed in a suicide bombing Monday in Afghanistan were a 46-year-old father of three “probably heartbroken” to leave his family and a 36-year-old father of two who liked to fish.
Sgt. Major Bobby Girouard, 46, had been a soldier for 29 years before his latest stint in Afghanistan, said his brother Peter Girouard from the soldier’s hometown of Bathurst.
Girouard and Chief Warrant Officer Albert Storm were in an armoured personnel carrier when a civilian vehicle drove alongside and detonated explosives. Their identities have not yet been officially released.
Peter Girouard, 44, said his brother Bobby had been with his family just last week, finishing a three-week leave, the Moncton Times and Transcript reports.
As he set off for Afghanistan again he spoke to his mother and brother and wished them well.
Peter recalls that his brother was concerned.
“He was already in Afghanistan and was heading back to finish his duration, his period,” he said.
“His mood? It is depressing over there. Any war is I guess depressing. Last week he was with his family and he was probably heartbroken he was leaving his family again.”
The family had celebrated an early Christmas, knowing the soldier wouldn’t be home with them on Dec. 25.
“It was a celebration week before he left to go over, not knowing it would be his last week,” explained Peter.
Asked for recollections of his brother, he described him as a serious man who loved his native province’s expansive woodlands, where he walked the forests and loved to fish.
He joined the military right out of high school.
“There was no hesitation. That was what he wanted to do with his life,” said Peter.
Above all, he recalled, he was a “loving husband, a loving father.”
“I’m proud of him, proud of what he did for Canada,” said the younger brother. “He took his job very seriously. He led by example.”
However, he added, as family members speaking both Acadian French and English bustled in the background, it’s a struggle to understand the reason his brother died.
“You hear of people dying in the past,” he said.
“You hear their names and you say `It must be hard, what do you do, what do you do?’ Here you are, it’s us. And you don’t know what to do.
“You can’t understand it. Why are they gone to war? Who are they fighting for? What’s it going to accomplish?”
Girouard’s mother, Mabel, said her son joined the militia when he was just 17, then signed up for the regular forces as soon as he graduated from Bathurst High School.
He and his wife Jacqueline had just purchased a home in Pembroke, Ont.
They have three children, Robert Jr., 22, Jocelyn, 21, and Michael, 19. Both Robert Jr. and Michael have followed in their father’s footsteps and are members of the Canadian Forces.
His parents, Vincent and Mabel Girouard, and a brother, Peter, still reside in Bathurst.
Girouard left for Afghanistan on Aug. 2, but returned to Bathurst on leave in mid-November.
His mother said her son had previously served in Germany, Kosovo, and Bosnia, but told family this tour was rough compared to those.
“But he said they had to fight for peace in order for the rest of us to enjoy the life that we have,” she said.
Storm, a Fort Erie, Ont., native, was just three years from retirement — a decorated soldier who served in trouble-spots around the globe, the Niagara Falls Review reports.
“As a soldier, he was proud to be one,” Storm’s older brother, George, said Monday night from his home in Kenora, Ont. “As a person, he was the best. He would do anything for anyone.”
George Storm learned of his brother's death "in the wee hours of the morning" yesterday, when a colonel from the 116th Independent Field Battery knocked on his door in Kenora.
He said he had the unhappy task of informing their elderly father, sister Beverly and brother Frank, who is still in the Niagara area.
“I’m the eldest. It was my job.”
Both of the dead soldiers served with the Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
It was the first deadly strike against the Canadians in six weeks, shattering a period of relative calm.
The death toll among Canadian troops in Afghanistan since 2002 now stands at 44, along with one diplomat. Thirty-six have died this year.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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Ottawa names fallen soldiers
TENILLE BONOGUORE
Globe and Mail Update and Canadian Press
One soldier was working toward retiring from service and the other had just returned from an early Christmas celebration with family, but on Monday, they were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan in a mission that has now claimed 34 Canadian lives.
Sergeant Major Robert Girouard, 46, originally from Bathurst, N.B., and Chief Warrant Officer Albert Storm, 36, from Niagara Falls, were both serving with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.
The two soldiers were in an armoured personnel carrier when a civilian vehicle drove alongside and detonated explosives on Monday.
They had been helping reconstruction projects in the Panjwai and Zhari districts outside Kandahar Cpl. Storm, a father-of-two who liked to fish, was reported to have been planning to leave the
Sgt.-Maj. Girouard had just returned to Afghanistan after an early Christmas celebration with his wife Jacqueline and three children, Robert Jr., Jocelyn and Michael. Both sons also serve in the military.
His brother Peter said Sgt.-Maj. Girouard was “heartbroken” to be leaving his family at the end of the three-week holiday.
“His mood? It is depressing over there. Any war is I guess depressing,” Peter Girouard said.
“It was a celebration week before he left to go over, not knowing it would be his last week.”
Asked for recollections of his brother, he described him as a serious man who loved his native province's expansive woodlands, where he walked the forests and loved to fish. He joined the military right out of high school.
This was expected to be his final overseas posting, and he was due to return home in February after 29 years serving in the military, hi
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Office of the Prime Minister / Cabinet du Premier ministre
Statement by the Prime Minister on the deaths of Robert Girouard and Albert Storm
28 November 2006
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the deaths of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm:
“It is with deep sorrow that I extend my condolences, and those of the entire Government of Canada and all Canadians, to the families and friends of Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm, who were killed yesterday in Afghanistan.
“The resolve and courage demonstrated by Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm represent Canadian values and beliefs in the finest tradition. They will be missed by the Canadian Forces family, and their loss is also Canada's loss. We stand united in pride and pledge to remember their sacrifice. We thank Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm for their commitment and contribution in serving our country and in helping the Afghan people.
“Canada will not be deterred from the mission to assist the Afghan people achieve greater stability and security. Our progress is gradual but we are determined to achieve irreversible success. Yesterday morning I spoke with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and he expressed his condolences on the loss of our two soldiers. He noted that Canada is making a difference in Afghanistan, particularly in the south, and he expressed that Canada as part of the NATO alliance is making the world a safer place by making Afghanistan a safer place.
“I know that Canadians stand proudly behind our Canadian Forces as they carry out this mission. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of Chief Warrant Officer Girouard and Corporal Storm on this sad day.”
Statement from Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Bill Graham on the deaths of Corporal Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard
November 28, 2006
On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary caucus, I would like to express my most sincere sorrow at the news of the deaths of Corporal Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard Monday morning in Khandahar. We send our deepest sympathies to their family, friends and comrades as they cope with this terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all.
I speak not only for our party but for all Canadians when I say that we are forever grateful for the sacrifices that Cpl. Storm, CWO Girouard and our other brave men and women in uniform have made on behalf of Canada.
We are immensely proud of the extraordinary men and women who risk their lives to protect our cherished values and our way of life. Every day, they put their lives on the line to help build a safe and secure world. Their dedication to creating a better, more peaceful life for Canadians and people the world over is second to none.
We remain steadfast in our support of all Canadian Forces members as they undertake this important mission to help bring peace, security, hope and opportunity to the people of Afghanistan and the world.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Joe Kiah
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It is truly a sad day with this news. It is hard to come up with words at this time but I can say I have lost a friend and in some respects a big brother.
Every soldier has the superior that helps him in his life and career and provides advice and support. For me there are a couple here on the forum and another was Bobby Girouard. He truly watched out for me and looked after me when I needed help and for that I will never forget him.
We have lost another great man and leader in The Regiment. A Soldiers Soldier.
My deepest, heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Pro Patria
Joe Kiah
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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I remember, amongst other times, when they pulled him of ISCC to play for the Royals, the battalion hockey team in Germany. I think he busted his ankle or something during the game, rtu'd. Put him back a bit but he was always positive... Crap. we shared some good excersises in Germany, Bobby was a damn good mortarman... and could skate like the wind.
another press release.
Statement by Jack Layton on the death of two Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan
Tue 28 Nov 2006 | Printer friendly
OTTAWA – “New Democrats across the country are deeply saddened by the loss of two brave Canadian soldiers, killed on Monday while serving our country in Afghanistan.
“The loss of Cpl. Albert Storm, from Fort Erie, Ont, and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, from Bathurst, N.B, is a tragic reminder of the constant danger our women and men in uniform face during their service to all Canadians. We commend their bravery, determination, selflessness and courage.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two men who have been lost, with all members of the Canadian Forces serving at home and abroad, as well as with the broader military community of CFB Petawawa where the two soldiers were based.
“On behalf of all New Democrats, I extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Cpl. Albert Storm and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard.”
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Bob is fourth from the right.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Joe A Kiah
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Mike,
Thanks for the picture. Any more? Bobby was a major influence on a lot of people and I just can't believe he was taken now. It is ureal the effect that the loss of Bobby can bring to someone. I know I am not alone.
Pro Patria
Joe
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PteHopkins
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I was in battle school at Meaford when CWO Girouard was the DSM. I got scolded by him on many occasions, as almost every young soldier does. 
He always was a man to be respected, and you knew he was the ultimate Royal. I was saddened even more to find out that he had passed.
Rest easy, Sir
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Mary Ann Peace
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It is so sad that such a good friend has left us to mourn but remember the family. Pro Patria Bob. Rest in Peace my friend.
I got the call from Jackie and I just told her to feel my arms around her. Jackie said to me, "Mke has the best company now. They are smoking those colts and having port." Bob and Jackie were always there when Mike Peace was ill. I think the Regimental family lived at my house when Mike became ill. The Regimental Family was there for me and my family. We were all a part of that time when we grew up together, raising our families and being there for one another when the guys were away. Mike and Bob are telling those fishing stories that were left untold. Just thought I would share some thoughts about my friends who are so dear to me.
RSM Robert Girouard will never be forgotten.
Pro Patria
Rest in Peace
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Mike Blais
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Remembering the fallen
ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
The death of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard will be keenly felt by Canadian troops -- he was his battalion's father figure and the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer to die so far in Afghanistan.
CWO Girouard, 46, was the Regimental Sergeant-Major of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, making him not only the senior chief warrant officer but also the one with the heaviest responsibilities for leadership, cohesion and morale among the battalion's soldiers.
"The regimental sergeant-major is the father of the force, if you like -- the disciplinarian, the father confessor, a whole range of roles from pope to Jesuit in the army," said Desmond Morton, a military historian at McGill University.
"He's the old man -- usually in chronological terms one of the oldest soldiers in the regiment -- and will have been very much responsible for the good welfare of the men."
The battalion's lieutenant-colonel would have been giving the orders, said David Bercuson, director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, and CWO Girouard would have had the responsibility for carrying them out.
"The non-commissioned officers do. The commissioned officers think. Commissioned officers make decisions, non-commissioned officers implement their decisions," Prof. Bercuson said.
CWO Girouard, a father of three and a 29-year military veteran, was killed in a suicide bomb attack Monday along with one of his men, Corporal Albert Storm, 36, a father of two. They died during an attack on the Bison armoured personnel carrier they were in just outside Kandahar.
CWO Girouard was a native of Bathurst, N.B., and Cpl. Storm was originally from Fort Erie, Ont.
A colleague told The Canadian Press that Cpl. Storm, a decorated soldier who had served in trouble spots around the globe, was just three years from a planned retirement. "I bought him a coffee and we talked about the past and what we had done in the past.
"We kind of reminisced a bit and he was talking about planning for his retirement," said Corporal William Guse, a medic who served with Cpl. Storm more than 14 years ago and met with him just Sunday. "He died doing what he wanted to do; he thoroughly enjoyed the army. He enjoyed it as much as he enjoyed planning for his retirement, too."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
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When Robert Girouard was killed, his unit lost more than its Chief Warrant Officer
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
As Chief Warrant Officer Robert (Bobby) Girouard and Corporal Albert Storm came home to Canada last night, their flag-draped caskets arriving at CFB Trenton in a light rain, there was nothing to tell the non-military observer what a profound loss he was witnessing.
While the army properly grieves every fallen soldier equally, regardless of rank, the death of CWO Girouard was felt keenly not only on a personal level, but also as an enormous symbolic blow.
The 46-year-old husband and father of three wasn't just the senior non-commissioned officer of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, he was also the unit's Regimental Sergeant Major, the first of about 25 RSMs in the battalion's storied 123-year history to be killed by enemy action.
He and 36-year-old Cpl. Storm, a native of Fort Erie, Ont., and a father of two, died Monday when their Bison armoured personnel carrier was struck by a suicide bomber just west of the main base at Kandahar Air Field.
The RSM is not a rank, but an appointment -- one steeped in military lore and best expressed in the old saying that if a regiment is commanded by the lieutenant-colonel, it "belongs" to the RSM.
Equal parts mother hen, stern father figure and kindly mentor, the RSM is variously described as the soul of a regiment, the keeper of its institutional memory and fierce guardian of its traditions, and a figure so important that every soldier from the most junior private to the most senior officer listens to him "as if unto God," as one soldier said yesterday.
The RSM is also widely considered to be invulnerable, the character who, as Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Ron Bragdon told The Globe and Mail yesterday, "in war movies is the guy standing up and walking as the bullets are flying."
Now a senior controller for the army, former Lt.-Col. Bragdon said that the Commanding Officer-RSM relationship is the pinnacle of the officer-NCO pairing that happens as soon as a young officer gets his first assignment.
The officer, likely then in his 20s, begins as a platoon commander, with a warrant officer probably in his 30s or even early 40s. "You're brand new, and he's like the uncle. And if you don't listen to him, you can get into a lot of trouble."
By the time the officer returns, older and a little wiser, as a company commander and is paired with a sergeant-major, the relationship is more mature, with the sergeant-major now like an older brother. "He becomes your confidante, you tell him things you wouldn't even tell your wife. You might say 'I have a great idea!' and he'll say, 'Let's go for a walk,' and he'll provide you that other perspective. And it might even be a great idea."
The next step, where the CO and RSM pair up, the relationship changes again, "brother to brother, but you're more equal, you're closer in age. Now, you do more than just move together inside the battalion, when the CO goes to merit boards [to discuss troop promotions], the RSM goes with him."
Indeed, the CO and RSM "are together 70 per cent of the time and when they are not, it is often because the CO has asked the RSM to chase down an issue of 'ground truth,' " Lt.-Col. Geordie Elms said yesterday in an e-mail from Kabul, where he is now the Canadian defence attaché.
Col. Elms attended the ramp ceremony in Kandahar two days ago when the Canadian battle group said goodbye to Cpl. Storm and the RSM.
"I had known him for 27 years," Col. Elms wrote wistfully, from when "he was Private Bobby Girouard. . . . I looked at the picture released of him and thought, 'He still looks the same, with that grin and those ears.' "
The CO-RSM relationship, he said, "goes on long after each of you give up your appointments. I saw it in my father -- an RSM -- with the COs he served under, and I see it at every regimental gathering or reunion."
Indeed, one of the first people to whom Col. Elms had to break the news of RSM Girouard's death was his own old RSM.
So revered is the office of RSM, and so two-headed the nature of his responsibilities -- Col. Elms describes it as having one foot in the sergeants' mess and the other in the CO's tent -- that tradition decrees that while the troops may address him as "RSM," officers must refer to him as Mister.
Only the CO has the privilege of calling him RSM, as the men do.
RSM Girouard embodied all of the lore "and more," says a 1RCR officer who grew up in the ranks before being commissioned and thus has seen RSMs from both ends.
Wounded in Afghanistan, the officer said it was RSM Girouard's "face I saw soon after" and whose "words which drove me to recover and to get back overseas in a few days."
But even as he looks after the men, simultaneously the RSM's other responsibility is to watch his CO's "6 o'clock" -- his back. RSM Girouard was doing just this when he was killed.
On Monday last, the 1RCR CO, Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie was in the lead vehicle of the convoy as it left the air field, with RSM Girouard and Cpl. Storm in the Bison just behind.
Command is acknowledged as the loneliest job, with CO Lavoie's peer group, as such, consisting only of the hard-charging former hockey player with the Royals. "I have no doubt," Col. Elms said, "that RSM Girouard will be with Omer the rest of his life."
On Wednesday, when he returns to CFB Petawawa, Bobby Girouard's body will be marched thrugh the 1RCR lines for the last time.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Gerry Connors
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Great report Mike, kinda chokes you up...
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1RCR Duke's Coy '82 - '87; Cyprus '84 / '85
LOTPed medic 1988; CFH Halifax '88 - '90
119 AD Bty medic, CFB Chatham '90 - '95
2RCR medic '95 - '00; SFOR Bosnia, 2RCR Roto 4 '99;
42 Hlth Svc Gagetown '00 - '02
CFRC Gagetown / Fredericton '02 - '06; 'retired' Aug '06
HMCS Jolliet, Sept-Iles QC, medical staff / 'tiffy' (reserves)
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Bill Norman
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I only knew Bobby while he was here at the tank range in Meaford. He definately left an impression on me. I never served with him ,but from watching him around base, and around the troops you could definately see that he was well respected. I took him and Jackie ice fishing a couple of years ago up on the base at Mountain Lake, needless to say there are a few stories about that trip that can be shared over a couple of Beers.
My Thoughts and prayers go out to the family. He will be greatly missed.
Bill.
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Joe Kiah
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Mike,
Very nice article, thanks for posting.
Bill,
How are you doing? A vert sad time for The Regiment.
Joe
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
Offline
Gender:
Posts: 3092
A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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For those of unable to attend and personally pay their respects, RSM Girouard's internment ceremonies will be carried live on CBC Newsworld commencing at 1000 hours, EST.
Pro Patria.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
Offline
Gender:
Posts: 3092
A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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