- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
End of Mission, Gunner - Stand Easy...
Requiem in Pace,
blake
Requiem in Pace,
blake
Gunner Jonathan Dion - 5th Regiment d'Artillerie legere du Canada - 30 Dec. 2007
- Thread starter Dog Walker
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 68
- Points
- 680
Dion Family Statement
Statement
The Dion Family Wishes To Share This Message
DM 07.013 - December 31, 2007
GATINEAU, Qc - The family of private Jonathan Dion killed in service in Afghanistan on December the 30th 2007, wishes to make public the following declaration:
It is never easy for parents to lose a child. We are devastated by the death of Jonathan who, with dignity, gave up his life serving his country with honour and pride alongside his brothers in arms in Afghanistan. We are extremely proud of our son and of what he accomplished during his life including his career in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will be his distinctive smile and his joie de vivre which will remain in our minds as we think of him. He loved being a soldier and loved being in the company of brothers and sisters in arms.
Jonathan had found his rightful place in the Canadian Forces. He was maturing rapidly and showed that he was living life to the fullest and was developing his full potential. He was an example to all of his family and he was a great brother. Since he passionately believed in his mission in Afghanistan we supported him when he volunteered for this mission. Quite recently he was telling us he would like to return should there be a second tour.
Jonathan lived the major part of his life in the city of Gatineau. He loved his city, his small part of the country, and his neighbourhood. He wanted more than anything else to make a difference in the world around him. He died doing what he loved best, to be a soldier and serve his country.
- 30 -
The Dion family wishes that the Medias respect their privacy during this period of deep mourning. They are not presently available for press interviews. Information concerning the repatriation, funeral service and the participation of the Medias will be made known later when the details will be known.
For all questions, please contact Lieutenant Marcel Larocque, Public affairs representative at (613) 818-6485.
Statement
The Dion Family Wishes To Share This Message
DM 07.013 - December 31, 2007
GATINEAU, Qc - The family of private Jonathan Dion killed in service in Afghanistan on December the 30th 2007, wishes to make public the following declaration:
It is never easy for parents to lose a child. We are devastated by the death of Jonathan who, with dignity, gave up his life serving his country with honour and pride alongside his brothers in arms in Afghanistan. We are extremely proud of our son and of what he accomplished during his life including his career in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will be his distinctive smile and his joie de vivre which will remain in our minds as we think of him. He loved being a soldier and loved being in the company of brothers and sisters in arms.
Jonathan had found his rightful place in the Canadian Forces. He was maturing rapidly and showed that he was living life to the fullest and was developing his full potential. He was an example to all of his family and he was a great brother. Since he passionately believed in his mission in Afghanistan we supported him when he volunteered for this mission. Quite recently he was telling us he would like to return should there be a second tour.
Jonathan lived the major part of his life in the city of Gatineau. He loved his city, his small part of the country, and his neighbourhood. He wanted more than anything else to make a difference in the world around him. He died doing what he loved best, to be a soldier and serve his country.
- 30 -
The Dion family wishes that the Medias respect their privacy during this period of deep mourning. They are not presently available for press interviews. Information concerning the repatriation, funeral service and the participation of the Medias will be made known later when the details will be known.
For all questions, please contact Lieutenant Marcel Larocque, Public affairs representative at (613) 818-6485.
- Reaction score
- 68
- Points
- 680
Media Advisory, Fallen Soldier Returning Home
Media Advisory
Fallen Soldier Returning Home
MA 07-048 - December 31, 2007
OTTAWA, Ont. - Our fallen soldier, Gunner Jonathan Dion, a member of 5e régiment d'artillerie légère du Canada, based in Valcartier, Quebec, is scheduled to return home to Canada.
Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.
When: Wednesday, January 2, 2:00 p.m.
What: Media are invited to view the arrival; however no interviews will be given.
Present to pay their respects will be the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and other dignitaries.
Gunner Dion was killed December 30, 2007 when the armoured vehicle he was traveling in struck a suspected improvised-explosive device.
-30-
Note to the Editor/News Director: Interested media must contact CFB Trenton Public Affairs Officer, Major Isabelle Robitaille at mobile (613) 242-3156 or at: robitaille.mji@forces.gc.ca.
For flight information, contact the Air Passenger Terminal at 1-800-487-1186.
Media Advisory
Fallen Soldier Returning Home
MA 07-048 - December 31, 2007
OTTAWA, Ont. - Our fallen soldier, Gunner Jonathan Dion, a member of 5e régiment d'artillerie légère du Canada, based in Valcartier, Quebec, is scheduled to return home to Canada.
Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.
When: Wednesday, January 2, 2:00 p.m.
What: Media are invited to view the arrival; however no interviews will be given.
Present to pay their respects will be the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and other dignitaries.
Gunner Dion was killed December 30, 2007 when the armoured vehicle he was traveling in struck a suspected improvised-explosive device.
-30-
Note to the Editor/News Director: Interested media must contact CFB Trenton Public Affairs Officer, Major Isabelle Robitaille at mobile (613) 242-3156 or at: robitaille.mji@forces.gc.ca.
For flight information, contact the Air Passenger Terminal at 1-800-487-1186.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 10
RIP Gunner, Thank you for your sacrifice and for making our country/ the rest of the guns proud. 
Condolences
Condolences
- Reaction score
- 290
- Points
- 980
BYT Driver said:
Ditto.
Our members act as we expect them to, but it is the courage, dignity, strength, and grace of such families that continues to fill me with awe.
Once more, we lose a superb human being, from a superb family, from a superb nation.
As great a tragedy as this is, it would be a greater tragedy if we did not produce such people.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080101.wxsoldier01/BNStory/Afghanistan/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080101.wxsoldier01
TU THANH HA
Globe and Mail Update
January 1, 2008 at 7:31 AM EST
MONTREAL — He had tough years, dropping out of junior college and drifting between odd jobs, until life in the military straightened him out.
Before Jonathan Dion left for Afghanistan last summer, the 27-year-old artillery gunner promised his family and friends that he would come back alive.
Gunner Dion died on Sunday, less than two weeks before his birthday on Jan. 10.
"It is never easy for parents to lose a child. We are devastated by the death of Jonathan who, with dignity, gave up his life serving his country with honour and pride," the Dion family said in a statement.
Canadian Gunner Jonathan Dion is shown in this undated handout photo. Gunner Dion, 27, was killed and four others are recovering from injuries suffered when their light armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb early Dec. 30, 2007 in southern Afghanistan. (CP/Department of National Defence)
The family said he was passionate about serving in Afghanistan - his first overseas deployment - and had told them he wanted to go back for a second rotation.
Gunner Dion was born in the remote mining community of Val d'Or, Que., but by the time he was eight years old, his family relocated to Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa.
Gatineau resident Edwin Laguerre knew Gunner Dion since grade school and remembered how both talked about joining the military.
"He overcame a lot of challenges in his youth. It turned his life around," Mr. Laguerre said, adding that his late friend always wanted to be in a front-line assignment.
Similar recollections were echoed in a tribute on the Facebook website.
There, Gunner Dion's half-brother, Benoît, recalled that the slain soldier had assured his mother that he would return so he could complete the giant tattoo on his shoulders that said: "Dedicated to the world's greatest mom."
Said Benoît: "Coming from you, I know that you would have kept your promise but others made it happen differently."
Childhood friend Benoît Fournier described Gunner Dion on Facebook as a young man who had found in the military a measure of stability.
"You were pretty wild between 16 and 18," he wrote, recalling Gunner Dion having a fight with a teacher or hiding from his mother the holes he had punched in a wall.
"He was the life of the party. He wasn't shy," said Mr. Laguerre, who enlisted recently. After quitting CEGEP, Quebec's post-secondary college program, Gunner Dion tried various trades. "He didn't have stable jobs. After high school, he tried a lot of things before he found his calling," Mr. Laguerre said.
"Jonathan had found his rightful place in the Canadian Forces. He was maturing rapidly and showed that he was living life to the fullest and was developing his full potential," his family said in its statement.
Gunner Dion joined the Canadian Forces three years ago and was a member of the Valcartier-based 5e Régiment d'Artillerie légère du Canada.
He died after a roadside bomb struck the tracked light armoured vehicle that was carrying him back from a forward operating post to the main base at Kandahar
-------------------------------------------
unfortunate death...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080101.wxsoldier01/BNStory/Afghanistan/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080101.wxsoldier01
TU THANH HA
Globe and Mail Update
January 1, 2008 at 7:31 AM EST
MONTREAL — He had tough years, dropping out of junior college and drifting between odd jobs, until life in the military straightened him out.
Before Jonathan Dion left for Afghanistan last summer, the 27-year-old artillery gunner promised his family and friends that he would come back alive.
Gunner Dion died on Sunday, less than two weeks before his birthday on Jan. 10.
"It is never easy for parents to lose a child. We are devastated by the death of Jonathan who, with dignity, gave up his life serving his country with honour and pride," the Dion family said in a statement.
Canadian Gunner Jonathan Dion is shown in this undated handout photo. Gunner Dion, 27, was killed and four others are recovering from injuries suffered when their light armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb early Dec. 30, 2007 in southern Afghanistan. (CP/Department of National Defence)
The family said he was passionate about serving in Afghanistan - his first overseas deployment - and had told them he wanted to go back for a second rotation.
Gunner Dion was born in the remote mining community of Val d'Or, Que., but by the time he was eight years old, his family relocated to Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa.
Gatineau resident Edwin Laguerre knew Gunner Dion since grade school and remembered how both talked about joining the military.
"He overcame a lot of challenges in his youth. It turned his life around," Mr. Laguerre said, adding that his late friend always wanted to be in a front-line assignment.
Similar recollections were echoed in a tribute on the Facebook website.
There, Gunner Dion's half-brother, Benoît, recalled that the slain soldier had assured his mother that he would return so he could complete the giant tattoo on his shoulders that said: "Dedicated to the world's greatest mom."
Said Benoît: "Coming from you, I know that you would have kept your promise but others made it happen differently."
Childhood friend Benoît Fournier described Gunner Dion on Facebook as a young man who had found in the military a measure of stability.
"You were pretty wild between 16 and 18," he wrote, recalling Gunner Dion having a fight with a teacher or hiding from his mother the holes he had punched in a wall.
"He was the life of the party. He wasn't shy," said Mr. Laguerre, who enlisted recently. After quitting CEGEP, Quebec's post-secondary college program, Gunner Dion tried various trades. "He didn't have stable jobs. After high school, he tried a lot of things before he found his calling," Mr. Laguerre said.
"Jonathan had found his rightful place in the Canadian Forces. He was maturing rapidly and showed that he was living life to the fullest and was developing his full potential," his family said in its statement.
Gunner Dion joined the Canadian Forces three years ago and was a member of the Valcartier-based 5e Régiment d'Artillerie légère du Canada.
He died after a roadside bomb struck the tracked light armoured vehicle that was carrying him back from a forward operating post to the main base at Kandahar
-------------------------------------------
unfortunate death...
