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Topic: Afghanistan - 3rd Battalion, The Royal 22nd Regiment. 07-08 (Read 5639 times)
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Mike Blais
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Soldiers bid sad farewell to Cpl. Hornburg
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Tue. Sep. 25 2007 10:39 PM ET
Hundreds of coalition troops gathered Wednesday morning at Kandahar airbase to bid a sad farewell and pay tribute to Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, the 71st Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
A coffin carrying Hornburg's body was placed on a plane heading home.
A member of the King's Own Calgary Regiment, Hornburg was killed when he was hit by a mortar in southern Afghanistan. The 24-year-old Alberta native was repairing a tank at the time.
Another soldier was injured in the attack. And in an ensuing firefight, three more infantry soldiers were wounded.
Their injuries are not life threatening, according to Brig-Gen Guy Laroche, head of the Canadian military in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, a Canadian soldier was injured in a separate insurgent attack Tuesday. The soldier was ambushed while on a foot patrol. CTV's Steve Chao, in Kandahar, said the injured soldier was listed in "serious condition."
The soldier was on patrol with Afghan police officers west of Kandahar City when the group was ambushed by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire.
He was part of the Police Operational Mentoring Liaison Team -- a new police mentoring group meant to build up the local police force.
The soldier, whose name was not released, is being treated at a military medical facility at Camp Bastion, a British base west of Kandahar.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper mentioned Canada's latest loss on the battlefield during a speech in New York.
Canada is in Afghanistan "because we believe it is noble and necessary," Harper said, "a cause completely consistent with our country's proud history of supporting international action to fight oppression and brutality, and to assist our fellow human beings.''
"Since 2005 Canadian troops have been in one of the most violent regions in Afghanistan: the southern portion of Kandahar. And there has been a significant price -- as we were reminded yesterday with the death of a Canadian soldier'' and injuries to other soldiers, Harper said.
Later in a statement, Harper said: "Canadians mourn the loss of Corporal Nathan Hornburg. Demonstrating courage and commitment, he gave his life serving his country and working to ensure a brighter future for the Afghan people.''
Harper also expressed sympathies to the wounded soldiers.
Hornburg had been in Afghanistan for less than two months. He asked to be deployed to the country, telling CTV Calgary that he was nervous, but wanted to do his job.
"I'm excited to just see what it's actually like," he said in the days leading up to his deployment in August.
"I've just had various stories told to me, but I'm excited to just get my feet on the ground and start doing my job. What I'm scared of? I guess I'm just cautious of everything."
Hornburg's friends say they warned him not to go to the troubled country. But they say he was determined to do his duty as a soldier.
"I honestly told him, don't go, don't do it," said his friend Dominic Levesque. "A lot of us were in that boat ... but that was his mindset, he wanted to do that and he felt maybe like it was his duty."
In Afghanistan, Laroche said Hornburg went knowing the dangers that he faced.
"Corporal Horburg was involved in a mission that he believed in," said Laroche.
Seventy-one Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died since Ottawa began its military mission in Afghanistan in 2002. There have been 24 combat deaths so far this year.
With files from The Canadian Press
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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
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Mike Blais
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How many times have we deployed to Norway in the ACE Mobile role...
Norway won't commit to role in danger zone
But PM has 'respect' for Canadian mission
space
By ALAN FREEMAN
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 – Page A18
OTTAWA -- Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said he understands why Canadians feel they have been shouldering an unequal share of NATO casualties in Afghanistan, but he made no commitment to move Norway's 700 troops to the volatile southern part of the country.
"I understand that Canada feels that it had taken a big burden and we have respect for what Canada has done in Afghanistan," Mr. Stoltenberg said in an interview with The Globe and Mail, following a brief visit to the Muskoka region of Ontario yesterday.
However, he added, "Whether or not Norway is going to send troops to southern Afghanistan is something we haven't decided upon."
Like other NATO allies, the Norwegian leader encouraged Canada to remain in Afghanistan but would not be pinned down as to whether it should stick with its current combat mission in Kandahar. "Of course, we hope that Canada stays."
Norway is one of four NATO countries that Defence Minister Peter MacKay visited last week in an effort to build support for what Canada thinks should be a fairer share of troop strength in the country.
Of the 37 NATO nations and partners in the Afghan force, Norway is one that has avoided the more dangerous parts of the country, where Canada shares much of the burden with Britain, the Netherlands and the United States.
Mr. Stoltenberg noted that his coalition government has greatly expanded its contingent in Afghanistan over the past two years as it pulled its soldiers out of Iraq, where it had been backing the U.S.-led coalition. Norwegian troops, including 150 special forces, are based in the more stable northern and central parts of Afghanistan.
The move to the south is highly divisive politically within Mr. Stoltenberg's ruling coalition.
The Prime Minister insisted that his country is doing more than its share. "Norway has 4.5 million. Compared to our population, there's hardly any other country sending more troops to Afghanistan."
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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
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
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It may seem unfair to finger one contry, such as Norway.. but let us look at the oter side, we, Canada, are now fingered to " stay" , while other Nato members still sit on the sideline.. so maybe we should finger them all, one at a time.. the umpire is getting pretty lonely out there at the plate.. and may get fed up and take the ball home...ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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Death to Canada?
Villagers blame Canadians for Afghan killings
GRAEME SMITH
Globe and Mail Update
September 26, 2007 at 12:19 PM EDT
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Hundreds of protesters blocked the main highway west of Kandahar city today, claiming that foreign soldiers killed two local clerics in an overnight raid.
The Canadian military says it wasn't involved in the operation last night in Senjaray, a sprawling suburb where military convoys have often faced ambushes.
However, witnesses' vague descriptions of the troops who broke through doors in the middle of the night have led many residents to blame the Canadians.
“Death to Canada, death to foreigners, death to Karzai,” a protester yelled.
Hundreds of protesters blocked the main highway west of Kandahar city today, claiming that foreign soldiers killed two local clerics in an overnight raid.
House raids are always unpopular in southern Afghanistan, where violating the privacy of a home is considered a more serious affront than it is under Western traditions, and the death of two religious teachers has aggravated local reaction to the searches.
The dead men belonged to the Alizai tribe, a group already disenfranchised from the government; most of those protesting were members of the same tribe.
A resident who saw the bodies said that both men appeared to have been shot in the chest.
“They are arresting and killing innocent people,” said a tribal elder who attended the protest.
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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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Mike Blais
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well, Chet, to put things in perspective, the mission was never designed to be open ended. And this is already an extension, one very costly in the blood of our bothers, one that was designed, in part, to provide time for the alliance to prepare other nations for the mission.
From day 1, the commitment was supposed to be rotational in nature, from day 1 the plan was, as in UN ops, for another NATO nation to fill the void with the same complement of forces when our turn came to rotate out. Of course, in the aftermath of 911, a large segment of NATO was full of lip service, eh? Now they are all to busy covering their own damn asses to see the mission through with the resources necessary and, because of their lack of commitment and America's focus on Iraq, the mission is besieged.
Personally, I do not think that Canada would rotate out at all if the rest of NATO would step up to the plate and provide the troops, particularly in the south along the Pakistan border.
Unfortunately, this is not happening and, as a consequence here in Canada, public support for the mission is nosediving. Not because Canadians do not believe in our troops abilities but because they understand that this is a NATO mission, not a Canadian war, and that we, like so many times in our historical past, are being cast into the breach without adequate support because other blowhard nations are to busy protecting their non-alliance agendas.
One thing is certain. The spineless ones in NATO will not act until they have no other choice. And that will not happen until they no longer think they can screw Canada over.
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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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Mike Blais
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This guy should run for PM...
Colin Kenny . Any chopper better than none
Colin Kenny
Citizen Special
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Canadians are surely divided about whether we should have combat troops in Afghanistan. But there is no evidence that Canadians are divided about whether those troops should be provided with every reasonable bit of equipment to bring them home alive.
Which is why I was astounded to see a letter to the editor in the Citizen ("Not same chopper," Sept. 4) under the name of Peter MacKay, minister of national defence, ridiculing my suggestion that we send Griffon helicopters to Afghanistan to help prevent our young soldiers from getting blown to bits by roadside bombs.
When I made this suggestion in an interview with CanWest defence writer David Pugliese, I made it clear that the Griffons are not the ideal solution to the predicament that Canadians are the only forces operating in hot areas without their own helicopter support. The ideal helicopters would be medium-to-heavy lift Chinooks, which can carry three times the number of soldiers and/or ammunition and equipment as the Griffons.
But Canada doesn't have any Chinooks. The current government is committed to ordering them, but for whatever reason no contract seems to have been signed yet and if the normal delivery process is followed they won't be available until 2012. Given that Canada's commitment to keep fighting in Kandahar ends in 2009 that isn't very comforting to the troops risking their lives on exploding roads every day.
Canada did have the bigger Chinook helicopters at one point, but we sold them to the Dutch in the early 1990s as a cost-cutting measure. Mr. MacKay's letter blames the Liberals for that: "Senator Colin Kenny really should be asking why he and his Liberal colleagues chose not to equip the Canadian Forces with appropriate equipment."
In fact, my "Liberal colleagues" don't always like me being honest about the fact that both Liberals and Conservatives have failed Canadians when it comes to military readiness. But in any case, Canada's Chinooks were sold off under the government of Brian Mulroney, whom I don't recall ever seeing at Liberal caucus.
The armed vehicles that are getting blown up with Canadians inside them usually carry 10 soldiers, including the driver. A Griffon helicopter can carry two pilots, a flight engineer and 10 soldiers.
Yes, anybody would rather have the Chinook. But who in their right mind wouldn't opt for a Griffon if it could get soldiers from Point A to Point B without being blown to pieces?
If you need to move 30 soldiers, send three Griffons.
Yes, on paper the Canadian Forces have access to "shared" NATO aircraft that include Chinooks. But there aren't enough helicopters in Kandahar region to meet every country's needs. In reality, the country that owns the helicopters usually gets first dibs.
Canada has a fleet of 85 Griffon helicopters performing a variety of thoughtful little tasks in Canada. None of these tasks has anything like the urgency of saving lives in Afghanistan would.
And it isn't just a question of moving troops. During the day Griffons could provide intelligence and surveillance. In addition to providing information about Taliban troop movements, they could keep an eye on the roads to see if bombs are being planted.
I don't make these things up.
I talk to active members of the Canadian Forces, recently retired members of the Canadian Forces, informed academics - anybody who will give me the real goods, rather than government bafflegab. And the truth about the Griffons is that they could be useful in saving lives in Afghanistan.
The final line of the minister's letter says that I "should not unfairly malign the Canadian Forces through innuendo." Malign them? I'm trying to save some of them.
Our troops need more than bumper stickers. They need the best, non-partisan support we can give them.
A war zone isn't the place for cheap politics.
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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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Mike Blais
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Making roads 'safe for the boys'
Mine-detection vehicles bought from U.S. protect Canadians from deadly explosives
Matthew Fisher
The Ottawa Citizen; with files from Citizen News Services
Thursday, September 27, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The deadliest war within the war in Afghanistan entered a new era yesterday as Canadian combat engineers tried out, for the first time, some high-tech devices designed to keep Taliban improvised explosive devices from killing Canadians.
A South African-made Husky mine detection vehicle, which looks like an awkward road grader with wheeled extensions trailing behind to detonate buried explosives, was put through its paces on a dusty field near the Kandahar airfield.
"The guys who are going to use it are really eager to get out there because they know that, with this, they will save the lives of their buddies," said Capt. David Holsworth of Kingston, an engineer with the 5th Combat Engineers Regiment of Valcartier, Que. "This is the best piece of kit there is."
Life-saving innovations are urgently needed. Of the 71 Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan so far, 30 were killed when their vehicles hit home-made bombs buried in or near roads.
The Husky, which has four wheels set far apart, with the driver riding high in the middle on an armoured, V-shaped hull, is designed to work in concert with two other huge vehicles. One, called the Buffalo, will be equipped with a long robot arm to defuse, disable or detonate whatever is found hidden in the ground. The second, known as a Cougar, will carry explosives experts, robots and electronic suppression devices.
The vehicles, originally designed for the U.S. army to counter IEDs in Iraq, are used to "prove" -- or drive over -- roads most often used by Canadian patrols and convoys "to make them safe for the boys on suspicious roads," Capt. Holsworth said.
The military quietly announced in May that it would purchase the specialized anti-IED vehicles from the U.S. military for close to $30 million, with the first of the vehicles expected to arrive in the fall. In all, there will be six complete multi-vehicle suites: four of them expected to be fully operational here by the end of the year and two more deployed in Canada for training purposes. Some Husky vehicles may be on the road sooner.
Canadian patrols and convoys have occasionally benefited from road clearing by U.S. army Huskies based in southern Afghanistan, "but there were not nearly enough of them," Capt. Holsworth said. "So we got our own."
"The best thing about the Husky is that it is simple," Sgt. Jean-François De Wolfe said. "That is the way it is designed. It is all the training that we get that makes this a winner."
Sgt. De Wolfe added that he considered the Husky to be "the best vehicle there is against explosions. It's like you step on every inch of the ground."
If one of the four wheels of the Husky is blown off by an IED, the Canadians, trained at a U.S. army base in Missouri, say they can replace it within 40 minutes.
"There is not much holding the wheels on," said Capt. Holsworth, who is the engineers' operations officer. "They just pop off when hit." The team members aboard the vehicle, he added, then "just change in a new wheel ... and change operators because he'll have a headache for a few days."
One of the Husky drivers, Cpl. Tom Reid of Marystown, N.L., said that, even though his job is to hunt for things that will blow up, "I feel a lot safer in this vehicle than any other. It is designed to protect the driver."
Meanwhile, Canadian military officials acknowledged there was an anti-Canadian demonstration in Kandahar City yesterday to protest the seizure of some Afghan homes. The officials added that Canadians did not witness the protest, and that neither Canadian nor other coalition troops had been involved in house seizures.
According to one news report, between 300 and 500 angry men shouted slogans against foreign troops in Afghanistan and blocked a key road for hours. They alleged that soldiers had killed an "innocent" Islamic cleric and his brother in the Taliban-dominated Zhari district, about 35 kilometres east of Kandahar City.
Also yesterday, the U.S. military said coalition and Afghan forces killed 125 Taliban insurgents in two separate battles in southern Afghanistan. The Taliban denied losses reported by the Afghan government and foreign troops, calling them propaganda.
© The Otta
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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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Mike Blais
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Sit rep... ambush
Two Canadian soldiers injured in Afghanistan
Updated Thu. Sep. 27 2007 11:02 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Two more Canadian soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan, mere kilometres from the location where another soldier was killed earlier this week, military officials confirmed on Thursday.
One soldier received a gunshot wound while another was hit by shrapnel during a patrol in Panjwaii, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City, CTV's Steve Chao reported.
"They were working with Afghan Army soldiers trying to patrol an area as a police substation was being built," Chao said from Kandahar.
As part of Operation Sadiq Sarbaaz, or Operation Honest Soldier, soldiers are trying to build a number of police stations around the Taliban control and command centre in an effort to cut off their supply routes.
The soldiers were patrolling the area when they were ambushed and hit with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.
Both were airlifted to the Kandahar Airfield where they both underwent surgery. One of the soldiers will be airlifted to an American military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for more medical treatment.
Earlier in the week, a Canadian soldier was seriously wounded Tuesday when insurgents ambushed a joint patrol with the Afghan National Police.
Thursday's ambush occurred only a few kilometres away from the site of a mortar attack that killed another Canadian soldier.
Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, 24, died in Afghanistan during a counter-insurgency operation in one of the most dangerous districts in Afghanistan.
A member of a tank squadron, Hornburg was repairing the track on a Leopard 2 tank when he was killed by the blast from a mortar strike around 4:30 p.m. local time.
Another soldier was wounded in the same mortar attack.
In an ensuing firefight, three more infantry soldiers were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade launched by insurgents.
"There has been a great deal of intense fighting over the last few weeks," Chao said.
The Taliban are trying to mount their last push forward in an effort to gain as much control before the winter season when insurgent activity typically cools down.
"In the meantime, NATO forces are trying to lay their imprint on this area very much known as a Taliban stronghold," Chao said.
Hornburg, a member of the King's Own Calgary Regiment, is the 71st Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002.
After arriving at CFB Trenton on Friday, a convoy will transport Hornburg's body to Toronto where an autopsy will be performed.
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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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Mike Blais
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30-40? I was thinking more like a squadron devoted entirely in support of the battle group.
More politics....
Van Doos face first tour if Afghan mission extended
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | 10:09 PM ET
CBC News
Van Doos units in Quebec are expected to receive orders soon to begin extensive training in preparation for the possibility of an extension to the Afghanistan mission, for which they would be the first regiment deployed, CBC News has learned.
Canada's combat mission expires in February 2009, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper has expressed interest in extending soldiers' time on the ground.
Sources tell CBC that officers at defence headquarters are preparing a new Afghan strategy titled "The Managed Readiness Plan."
The document lays out future troop rotations in Afghanistan — with the Van Doos taking the burden of the first rotation of an extended mission.
The deployment of soldiers from the Van Doos, also known as the Royal 22nd Regiment, has been controversial due to widespread opposition to the mission in Quebec.
Continue Article
Polls have shown that two-thirds of Quebecers oppose Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan, with even more opposed to extending the mission.
"It's almost 80 per cent opposed to an immediate commitment to extend beyond 2009. It's extremely low," said political scientist Pierre Martin.
Martin said he believes the polls show that the province is pessimistic about success in Afghanistan and still fundamentally opposed to using force abroad.
3 regiments can lead mission: Defence Department
The Van Doos were deployed to Afghanistan over the summer months, replacing troops from the Royal Canadian Regiment, and are scheduled to return home next spring.
According to the Defence Department's plan, there are three regiments that can lead the Afghan duty: Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Van Doos.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Monday that Canada has until next April to tell NATO whether it plans to extend its Afghanistan combat mission.
Canada first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 and currently has about 2,500 soldiers stationed there.
Harper has said he believes soldiers should stay in the country until their work is complete, and said he plans to put the issue to a vote in the House of Commons when he has enough support.
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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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Mike Blais
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Well, brother, it all comes back to the roost. Harper, the control freak, has failed to sell the war to the general public during the past two years and, as a direct consequence, he will never get this mythical general consensus to continue. Specially in Quebec... which kind of makes you wonder just who at NDHQ came up with the idea of sending the vandoos for the first rotation. Mon dieu, sabatoge! Nor did the most recent cabinet change seemed to have any effect at all on the situation as NATO continues to play Canada as saps.
Too slow, next man, eh? Adapt tot he political situation of loose. The cons certainly had their opportunity to change the course of public opinion, specially in the aftermath of Operation Medusa, the only tangible success our soldiers have wrought to date, an effective PR campaign could have been launched. Yes yes, after two years, I know they think they are still the NEW government but, reality check says what happens on YOUR watch is YOUR responsibility. Instead, we tread water and fight the same battles over... this is starting to piss me off.
So is this.
Body of fallen soldier brought home to Canada
Meagan Fitzpatrick
CanWest News Service; with files from Calgary Herald
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a 24-year-old reservist with the King's Own Calgary Regiment, was killed by a mortar blast at the beginning of a prolonged firefight with insurgents that began just before dusk Monday.
The body of Canada's most recently fallen soldier in Afghanistan, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, arrived home Friday afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario.
"The skies were certainly grey as we brought home our latest fallen soldier from the war in Afghanistan," said Capt. Nicole Meszaros, a public affairs officer with the base.
The plane carrying the 24-year-old's body touched down just after 3 p.m. and his parents, Linda and Michael, were there to greet it. They approached the coffin before it was loaded into the hearse, said Meszaros.
"That seems to be a moment where it becomes very real, I think, for the families that they've lost a loved one and here he is. It's a very poignant moment," she said.
It also became real for friends who stayed home in Calgary.
Michael Pederson gathered with a group of Hornburg's friends Friday afternoon to grieve, share stories and watch media coverage of the repatriation ceremony on television.
They were glad he was home after a one-day delay and were preparing for next week's funeral.
"It's really nice that he's back on Canadian soil, where he wants to be," said Pederson, 22.
Dignitaries including Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of the defence staff, also attended the repatriation ceremony.
Hornburg was killed Monday when he was hit by mortar fire while repairing the tread on a Canadian Leopard tank, which had come off in rough terrain.
The soldier's body was due to come home Thursday, but a mechanical problem with the plane used to repatriate fallen soldiers from the Afghan war zone prompted a one-day delay.
A piper played a lament as the flag-draped coffin was carried across the tarmac to a waiting hearse. About 100 military members from CFB Trenton and other nearby bases were there to show their support. Lined up along the surrounding fence were about 100 ordinary Canadians who also came to pay their respects, said Meszaros.
"That's always a heartening experience," she said of the public display of support for the troops.
Following the ceremony, a military cavalcade was to take Hornburg's remains to Toronto, where an autopsy will be performed. The procession travels along Highway 401, a portion of which has been officially renamed the Highway of Heroes.
The young soldier was a reservist with the King's Own Calgary Regiment. Before he left for Afghanistan, he told his mother that no matter what happened during his tour, he would have no regrets.
Fellow soldiers in Calgary say the shock of Hornburg's death is still sinking in.
But with his body safely back in Canada, members of his Calgary regiment were looking forward to the opportunity to honour the young man in his home town.
"When he arrives back in Calgary, that will be more of a milestone for us as a regiment," said warrant officer Bruce Moore, of the King's Own Calgary Regiment.
"Our task is to focus on the duty of what needs to be done. Later, t | | | |
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