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Cpl. Beerenfenger given full military honours

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Cpl. Beerenfenger given full military honours

Canadian Press

CFB PETAWAWA, Ont. — Three volleys of rifle fire cracked over the coffin of Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger on Thursday as the Royal Canadian Regiment paid its last respects to a fallen soldier.

The regiment, the senior infantry outfit in the army, rendered full military honours to the 29-year-old soldier, who died in Afghanistan last week when his jeep was shattered by a mine. A private funeral was held Wednesday for Sgt. Robert Short, who died in the same blast.

The cavernous drill hall of Victoria Barracks, home of the 1st battalion of the regiment, became an impromptu funeral chapel. The brass candlesticks and floral arrangements clashed sharply with the institutional, grey concrete floor and the whitewashed grid of steel rafters.

About 800 people, mostly soldiers, perched on folding chairs for the 90-minute service.

The ceremony came with all the pomp and ritual the military can muster.

Eight privates in red, full-dress tunics, carried the flag-draped coffin into the service while the plaintive notes of a piped lament echoed off the walls. The top of the coffin bore his dress belt and bayonet, his service medals, his beret and a mourning wreaths.

After the ceremony, eight sergeants, also in red, carefully folded the flag and gave it to Brig.-Gen. Ivan Fenton, senior serving officer of the regiment, to present to Beerenfenger‘s wife Tina.

She stood, pale, with moist eyes as she took the flag and her husband‘s beret and medals.

She wore the memorial Silver Cross she was given earlier in the week as a token of her loss. Beerenfenger‘s mother, as well as Short‘s wife and mother, also received the crosses.

Beerenfenger was remembered as a sharp soldier and loving family man.

Baptist Pastor Stephen Filyer, uncle of Beerenfenger‘s wife, conducted the service.

He said he knew his nephew by marriage as a good soldier who wanted to make the army a career and who was always willing to offer his best.

"He would have been proud to ride in the lead vehicle."

Capt. Jim McInnis, second in command of the company in which Beerenfenger served in Afghanistan, also praised the young man.

"Cpl. Beerenfenger was highly motivated, hard-working, fit, reliable and mature," he said.

Master Cpl. Aaron Coxworth, a friend for years, was close to tears as he recalled good times with his buddy, snowboarding, skateboarding with neighbourhood kids and doting on the children.

When Beerenfenger‘s daughter, Madison, now one year old, was born, he carried her to Coxworth‘s home just to show her off.

"She was daddy‘s little girl."

Three soldiers who were wounded in the explosion that killed Beerenfenger and Short attended the funeral. They issued brief statements of condolence and thanks.

Said Master Cpl. Jay Hamilton: "I would like to offer my condolences to the families of Robert Shorts and Robbie Beerenfenger. I would also like to thank the nation for the support and backing for my fellow soldiers."

There were few tears from relatives inside the hall. The sobbing came outside, when the rifles signalled the finality of the event.

After the final echoes of the shots died away, the coffin was loaded into a hearse for transport to Ottawa and cremation. It drove away through a military base where every flag was at half-mast.

Meanwhile, Shorts‘ remains arrived at Fredericton airport late Thursday and were carried away in a hearse. Burial is scheduled for Saturday just outside the city.
 
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