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RIP soldier, heart felt condolances to the family and Regimental family. 
Cpl. Christopher Jonathan Reid
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060804.AFGHANFALLEN04/TPStory/
THE AFGHAN MISSION:
THE FALLEN
COLIN FREEZE
With reports from Shawna Richer and Canadian Press
Two summers ago, Corporal Christopher Reid was perched safely atop the world, at a military spy station not far from the North Pole.
On those summer days when the sun never set, he and his fellow soldiers kept the outpost as Canadian as they could. Via a satellite connection, they watched the Calgary Flames make a run for the Stanley Cup.
They celebrated Canada Day with "polar bear" dips in a newly unfrozen lake.
Yet from that isolated outpost, the soldier's thoughts often flew to the heat, dust and danger of far-away Afghanistan, the war-ravaged land where he truly yearned to be.
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
"He was happy to be up in [Canadian Forces Station] Alert. But his heart was doing his job as a soldier," recalled his former boss, Master Warrant Officer Doug Heath, in an interview yesterday.
"He really, really wanted to be in Afghanistan. . . . I remember him specifically talking about that."
Months later, Cpl. Reid got his wish. He recently stopped in his hometown of Truro, N.S., to tell one of his oldest friends that he was deploying to Afghanistan -- and he was ecstatic about it.
"He was excited about it. He was looking forward to going over," said Cpl. Greg Moore, who enrolled in the militia with his friend in 1989.
He remembered how he met Cpl. Reid when he was a fresh-faced 17-year-old, a Nova Scotia Highlander eager to learn how to fire his first C-7 rifle.
The teenager fell in love with the military instantly. Later at 34, Cpl. Reid was a Princess Patricia's infantryman, yearning to take on Taliban insurgents.
"It's the job of the soldier. That's what you sign up for. It didn't bother him," Cpl. Moore said. "His job was his life."
Cpl. Reid's life ended yesterday, when a bomb exploded underneath a Canadian Forces LAV-III armoured troop carrier driving along a highway outside of Kandahar. Hours later, three other Canadian infantrymen were also killed by insurgents, who fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the soldiers.
By all accounts, Cpl. Reid relished the opportunities he had to serve overseas in Bosnia, Croatia and Afghanistan. He even called his parents, his only immediate family members, this past Wednesday just to tell them how happy he was to be serving near Kandahar.
"He was in great spirits and he continued to show support for what they are doing over in Afghanistan," his mother, Angela Reid, told reporters yesterday. "He was doing what he loved and doing it with the guys he loved and trusted. We are very proud of our son and the effort he was making to help improve the quality of life for Afghans."
She added that "Christopher truly believed in what he was doing in Afghanistan. He felt very confident in the military leadership, his fellow soldiers, and he talked about how much he loved the LAV-III. He was skilled at what he did."
Friends and relatives said Cpl. Reid, who was trained as a driver, never expressed reservations about the mission in Afghanistan when he was deployed there in January, even after surviving a Taliban attack in May that killed his friend, Captain Nichola Goddard.
Georgina McCabe, his mother's cousin, told reporters in Nova Scotia that Cpl. Reid's parents had no apprehension about their son heading overseas, especially since they had lost their second child and only daughter several years earlier to a chronic illness. "Angela and [her husband] Tom were just as confident that he would come back," she said. "They just felt that nothing can happen to Christopher. Not that he was infallible. They just felt that the world would not take two of their children."
Few details were known about Sergeant Vaughn Ingram and Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller, who also died yesterday and whose names were confirmed last night. Both soldiers were based in Edmonton with the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
The fourth soldier has yet to be identified.
Sgt. Ingram appeared in several newspaper reports two months ago, when he was hit by shrapnel from a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade. He suffered injuries to the shoulders when insurgents attacked his light-armoured vehicle.
Mr. Ingram said at the time that he was eager to return to battle "as soon as I can."
4 SEPARATE ATTACKS AIMED AT CANADIANS
4:20 a.m.
THE TARGET: A LAV-III armoured
vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
THE TOLL: Corporal Christopher Reid was killed. Another soldier
was injured. His name has not
been released, but his condition was described as good.
7:15 a.m.
THE TARGET: A LAV-III was hit
when it rolled over what is believed to have been a pressure-plate mine.
THE TOLL: Three Canadian soldiers were injured. One was said to be in good condition; the other two
suffered minor injuries. The injured were taken to the coalition hospital at Kandahar Air Field by helicopter.
12:30 p.m.
THE TARGET: Canadian troops were out of their armoured vehicles and chasing Taliban rebels into a compound, believed to be an abandoned school, when they were hit by an RPG and machine-gun fire.
THE TOLL: Three soldiers were killed and six injured. Three of the injured were in a good condition, with the other three not seriously hurt. An Afghan translator was
also seriously injured.
2:30 p.m.
THE TARGET: A suicide bomber
detonated explosives hidden in his car near a Canadian convoy.
However, he missed Canadian troops.
THE TOLL: Twenty-one people
were killed, 13 civilians, including women and children, were injured and 13 shops were destroyed. It is believed no Canadians were injured in the attack.
THE AFGHAN MISSION:
THE FALLEN
COLIN FREEZE
With reports from Shawna Richer and Canadian Press
Two summers ago, Corporal Christopher Reid was perched safely atop the world, at a military spy station not far from the North Pole.
On those summer days when the sun never set, he and his fellow soldiers kept the outpost as Canadian as they could. Via a satellite connection, they watched the Calgary Flames make a run for the Stanley Cup.
They celebrated Canada Day with "polar bear" dips in a newly unfrozen lake.
Yet from that isolated outpost, the soldier's thoughts often flew to the heat, dust and danger of far-away Afghanistan, the war-ravaged land where he truly yearned to be.
Print Edition - Section Front
Enlarge Image
"He was happy to be up in [Canadian Forces Station] Alert. But his heart was doing his job as a soldier," recalled his former boss, Master Warrant Officer Doug Heath, in an interview yesterday.
"He really, really wanted to be in Afghanistan. . . . I remember him specifically talking about that."
Months later, Cpl. Reid got his wish. He recently stopped in his hometown of Truro, N.S., to tell one of his oldest friends that he was deploying to Afghanistan -- and he was ecstatic about it.
"He was excited about it. He was looking forward to going over," said Cpl. Greg Moore, who enrolled in the militia with his friend in 1989.
He remembered how he met Cpl. Reid when he was a fresh-faced 17-year-old, a Nova Scotia Highlander eager to learn how to fire his first C-7 rifle.
The teenager fell in love with the military instantly. Later at 34, Cpl. Reid was a Princess Patricia's infantryman, yearning to take on Taliban insurgents.
"It's the job of the soldier. That's what you sign up for. It didn't bother him," Cpl. Moore said. "His job was his life."
Cpl. Reid's life ended yesterday, when a bomb exploded underneath a Canadian Forces LAV-III armoured troop carrier driving along a highway outside of Kandahar. Hours later, three other Canadian infantrymen were also killed by insurgents, who fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the soldiers.
By all accounts, Cpl. Reid relished the opportunities he had to serve overseas in Bosnia, Croatia and Afghanistan. He even called his parents, his only immediate family members, this past Wednesday just to tell them how happy he was to be serving near Kandahar.
"He was in great spirits and he continued to show support for what they are doing over in Afghanistan," his mother, Angela Reid, told reporters yesterday. "He was doing what he loved and doing it with the guys he loved and trusted. We are very proud of our son and the effort he was making to help improve the quality of life for Afghans."
She added that "Christopher truly believed in what he was doing in Afghanistan. He felt very confident in the military leadership, his fellow soldiers, and he talked about how much he loved the LAV-III. He was skilled at what he did."
Friends and relatives said Cpl. Reid, who was trained as a driver, never expressed reservations about the mission in Afghanistan when he was deployed there in January, even after surviving a Taliban attack in May that killed his friend, Captain Nichola Goddard.
Georgina McCabe, his mother's cousin, told reporters in Nova Scotia that Cpl. Reid's parents had no apprehension about their son heading overseas, especially since they had lost their second child and only daughter several years earlier to a chronic illness. "Angela and [her husband] Tom were just as confident that he would come back," she said. "They just felt that nothing can happen to Christopher. Not that he was infallible. They just felt that the world would not take two of their children."
Few details were known about Sergeant Vaughn Ingram and Cpl. Bryce Jeffrey Keller, who also died yesterday and whose names were confirmed last night. Both soldiers were based in Edmonton with the 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
The fourth soldier has yet to be identified.
Sgt. Ingram appeared in several newspaper reports two months ago, when he was hit by shrapnel from a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade. He suffered injuries to the shoulders when insurgents attacked his light-armoured vehicle.
Mr. Ingram said at the time that he was eager to return to battle "as soon as I can."
4 SEPARATE ATTACKS AIMED AT CANADIANS
4:20 a.m.
THE TARGET: A LAV-III armoured
vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
THE TOLL: Corporal Christopher Reid was killed. Another soldier
was injured. His name has not
been released, but his condition was described as good.
7:15 a.m.
THE TARGET: A LAV-III was hit
when it rolled over what is believed to have been a pressure-plate mine.
THE TOLL: Three Canadian soldiers were injured. One was said to be in good condition; the other two
suffered minor injuries. The injured were taken to the coalition hospital at Kandahar Air Field by helicopter.
12:30 p.m.
THE TARGET: Canadian troops were out of their armoured vehicles and chasing Taliban rebels into a compound, believed to be an abandoned school, when they were hit by an RPG and machine-gun fire.
THE TOLL: Three soldiers were killed and six injured. Three of the injured were in a good condition, with the other three not seriously hurt. An Afghan translator was
also seriously injured.
2:30 p.m.
THE TARGET: A suicide bomber
detonated explosives hidden in his car near a Canadian convoy.
However, he missed Canadian troops.
THE TOLL: Twenty-one people
were killed, 13 civilians, including women and children, were injured and 13 shops were destroyed. It is believed no Canadians were injured in the attack.
NL_engineer
Army.ca Veteran
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RIP
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C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mother lashes out at Taliban at slain son's funeral
Last Updated Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:25:59 EDT
CBC News
The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan angrily condemned the Taliban on Saturday, as the remains of another fallen Canadian soldier were flown home.
"Their hearts have been deadened, their minds and thoughts twisted, their vision clouded and their hearing deafened," Angela Reid told about 300 mourners at the funeral for her son, Cpl. Christopher Reid, in Truro, N.S.
She then urged the people of Afghanistan to work with the NATO-led coalition forces, prompting a standing ovation from the gathering.
"I make this simple request to the Afghan people: Reach out and grab on to the help we offer to you in good faith. Together, and only together, can we succeed," she said.
"To one and all, I have this request. Please support our troops, they need you standing behind them."
Cpl. Reid, 34, a member of the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar on Aug. 3, weeks before he was scheduled to return home.
Dedicated soldier
At the funeral service, he was remembered as a fun-loving and dedicated soldier.
"He believed in the mission because he believed in Canada and in the values for which we stand as a nation," Padre John O'Donnell said. "He wanted to be there and he wanted to be there 110 per cent."
Reid joined Truro's army reserves in 1989 before becoming a member of the regular force in 1995. He served across Canada and overseas, completing tours in Bosnia and Croatia.
Later on Saturday, the body of Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., will be received at Canadian Forces base Trenton.
Accidental death
Walsh, 33, was killed Aug. 9 in the accidental discharge of a rifle by another Canadian soldier. Officials are conducting an investigation into Walsh's death.
Twenty-six Canadian soldiers have been killed since Canada began its mission in Afghanistan in April 2002.
On Friday, Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom was killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan.
Eykelenboom, who was with the 1st Field Ambulance based in Edmonton, was the sixth Canadian killed in attacks in Afghanistan in the past nine days.
The Taliban in recent weeks has made repeated promises to increase its attacks against coalition soldiers. Canada has about 2,200 soldiers in Afghanistan.
With files from the Canadian Press
Copyright ©2006 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
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RIP
in memory and honour of all those canadians killed in combat im producing a collage to commemerate them and im hoping to be able to distribute them around
in memory and honour of all those canadians killed in combat im producing a collage to commemerate them and im hoping to be able to distribute them around
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We will never forget these fine men and women, they are truly an insipration to us all.
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The halls of Valhalla open for the newest heroes. I offer my condolences to the comrades, to the families, to the loved ones of the fallen. For the brave Canadians, and allied soldiers who have fallen, I offer not tears but praise. They did not shy from their duty, they neither failed nor faltered. Although they fell, their arms knew only victory, their names knew only glory. The Taliban that once walked so boldly in Afghanistan now skulks and slinks, knowing themselves no match for men and women such as this. Your watch is done; accept the praise of your nation, the love of your families, the welcome of your ancestors, and the glory of the gods.
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http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/08/12/soldiers-afghanistan.html
Mother lashes out at Taliban at slain son's funeral
Last Updated Sat, 12 Aug 2006 21:20:38 EDT
CBC News
The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan angrily condemned the Taliban on Saturday, as the remains of another fallen Canadian soldier were flown home.
"Their hearts have been deadened, their minds and thoughts twisted, their vision clouded and their hearing deafened," Angela Reid told about 300 mourners at the funeral for her son, Cpl. Christopher Reid, in Truro, N.S.
She then urged the people of Afghanistan to work with the NATO-led coalition forces, prompting a standing ovation from the gathering.
"I make this simple request to the Afghan people: Reach out and grab on to the help we offer to you in good faith. Together, and only together, can we succeed," she said.
"To one and all, I have this request. Please support our troops, they need you standing behind them."
Cpl. Reid, 34, a member of the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar on Aug. 3, weeks before he was scheduled to return home.
Dedicated soldier
At the funeral service, he was remembered as a fun-loving and dedicated soldier.
"He believed in the mission because he believed in Canada and in the values for which we stand as a nation," Padre John O'Donnell said. "He wanted to be there and he wanted to be there 110 per cent."
Reid joined Truro's army reserves in 1989 before becoming a member of the regular force in 1995. He served across Canada and overseas, completing tours in Bosnia and Croatia.
Later on Saturday, the body of Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., was received at Canadian Forces base Trenton.
Accidental death
Walsh, 33, was killed Aug. 9 in the accidental discharge of a rifle by another Canadian soldier. Officials are conducting an investigation into Walsh's death.
"Jeff believed in his job and felt he could make a change in Afghanistan. We, his parents, support Jeff and all the Forces members in Afghanistan and all our peacekeepers," Ben and Margie Walsh of Regina said in a statement.
Twenty-six Canadian soldiers have been killed since Canada began its mission in Afghanistan in April 2002.
On Friday, Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom was killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan.
Eykelenboom, who was with the 1st Field Ambulance based in Edmonton, was the sixth Canadian killed in attacks in Afghanistan in the past nine days.
The Taliban in recent weeks has made repeated promises to increase its attacks against coalition soldiers. Canada has about 2,200 soldiers in Afghanistan.
With files from the Canadian Press
Mother lashes out at Taliban at slain son's funeral
Last Updated Sat, 12 Aug 2006 21:20:38 EDT
CBC News
The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan angrily condemned the Taliban on Saturday, as the remains of another fallen Canadian soldier were flown home.
"Their hearts have been deadened, their minds and thoughts twisted, their vision clouded and their hearing deafened," Angela Reid told about 300 mourners at the funeral for her son, Cpl. Christopher Reid, in Truro, N.S.
She then urged the people of Afghanistan to work with the NATO-led coalition forces, prompting a standing ovation from the gathering.
"I make this simple request to the Afghan people: Reach out and grab on to the help we offer to you in good faith. Together, and only together, can we succeed," she said.
"To one and all, I have this request. Please support our troops, they need you standing behind them."
Cpl. Reid, 34, a member of the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was killed by a roadside bomb near Kandahar on Aug. 3, weeks before he was scheduled to return home.
Dedicated soldier
At the funeral service, he was remembered as a fun-loving and dedicated soldier.
"He believed in the mission because he believed in Canada and in the values for which we stand as a nation," Padre John O'Donnell said. "He wanted to be there and he wanted to be there 110 per cent."
Reid joined Truro's army reserves in 1989 before becoming a member of the regular force in 1995. He served across Canada and overseas, completing tours in Bosnia and Croatia.
Later on Saturday, the body of Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., was received at Canadian Forces base Trenton.
Accidental death
Walsh, 33, was killed Aug. 9 in the accidental discharge of a rifle by another Canadian soldier. Officials are conducting an investigation into Walsh's death.
"Jeff believed in his job and felt he could make a change in Afghanistan. We, his parents, support Jeff and all the Forces members in Afghanistan and all our peacekeepers," Ben and Margie Walsh of Regina said in a statement.
Twenty-six Canadian soldiers have been killed since Canada began its mission in Afghanistan in April 2002.
On Friday, Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom was killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan.
Eykelenboom, who was with the 1st Field Ambulance based in Edmonton, was the sixth Canadian killed in attacks in Afghanistan in the past nine days.
The Taliban in recent weeks has made repeated promises to increase its attacks against coalition soldiers. Canada has about 2,200 soldiers in Afghanistan.
With files from the Canadian Press
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