CFB Shilo mourns soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Friday, August 25, 2006 | 2:56 PM CT
CBC News
As Canadian Forces Base Shilo continues to mourn the death of a colleague this week, another soldier was remembered in a ceremony on the base on Friday.
Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, 33, was killed in a weapons-related accident Aug. 9 outside Kandahar. His funeral was held in Regina on Aug. 17, and he was buried in the military section of the city's Riverside Memorial Park.
Master Cpl. Darryl Smith, a friend of Walsh, called him "a great warrior and a great friend" during the Shilo service Friday morning. Smith recalled meeting Walsh more than nine years ago, when they went through battle training together.
Walsh was "one of only a few people in my life that I can call a true friend, a best friend, a brother," Smith said.
"Jeff was easy to like; in fact, I've never heard anyone describe Jeff as anything other than a great guy."
Smith also praised Walsh's military accomplishments, noting his motivation, discipline and high capabilities.
"Jeff had a love and passion for his job that put him in a class above the rest," he said. "In fact, it's my understanding that Jeff was to be promoted to sergeant in only a few months."
He added that Walsh would have been the first person from their battle-school class to earn that rank.
During the service, Smith mentioned Julie Mason, Walsh's spouse, and their children Avery, Jordan and Ben.
"I know you gave Jeff so much joy and he loved you all so very much," he said.
"Jeff was a great warrior and a great friend. He will be missed."
Walsh's father, Ben, also spoke at the service. He thanked everyone for their support and addressed the soldiers who are deployed in Afghanistan.
'Rest in peace, my son, until we meet again.'-Ben Walsh, father of Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh
"It is now time for all of you to focus on your job, your duties. We will see you in six months when you return," Walsh said.
The senior Walsh said his son believed in what he was doing and wanted to help people live in peace and freedom.
"Jeff was and will remain our hero," he said. "Rest in peace, my son, until we meet again."
'Emotionally charged month' in Shilo
CFB Shilo has seen many highs and lows since soldiers started deploying to Afghanistan in 2004, said Lt.-Col. Stuart Sharpe, commanding officer of the Second Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Of the eight Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan this month alone, two of them — including Walsh —were from CFB Shilo.
"It has been an emotionally charged month for this battalion and its families," said Lt.-Col. Sharpe.
"Each and every one of these events affects us all. We've experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
"Master Cpl. Jeff Walsh was an outstanding soldier and an excellent leader; he was well respected," Sharpe said.
"He was the kind of guy they all aspired to be."
While the Manitoba base honoured Walsh, it will also be remembering Cpl. David Braun, who was killed Tuesday when a suicide bomber hit the military convoy he was travelling in. A funeral will be held for Braun, 27, in his hometown of Raymore, Sask., next week and a memorial will be held at Shilo later.
'It's almost like we've stepped back'
Gayle Raynor, a military spouse in Brandon, Man., and founder of the Military Wives Sisterhood, said the recent deaths have been hard for Canadians to handle, especially since they don't fit the general public's image of the Canadian soldiers as "peacekeepers."
"I think we felt a great honour to be participating at that call to duty to be international peacekeepers, and now ... we're put into a position where we're back to the battle," she said Thursday.
"And I think when I say 'back to the battle,' that is honestly how people are thinking, it's almost like we've stepped back," she speculated, adding that she doesn't personally share that view.
Raynor's group, made up of military spouses of CFB soldiers serving in Afghanistan, provides support for those going through crisis.
"I think just knowing that you belong to something helps you regardless, especially in any crisis," she said. "You don't even have to talk to each other to know that you're there for each other, and that's really important."
Community pulls together
Jennifer Chiarotto, the outreach and deployment co-ordinator with the Military Family Resource Centre, said Thursday that with so many soldiers deployed, more people are going to the centre for counselling and other services.
And when a soldier dies, Chiarotto said, the community pulls together.
"People are willing to lend a helping hand when needed," she said. "Somebody will step in and watch the kids for somebody or [provide] a shoulder to cry on, that sort of thing."
Meanwhile, about 80 soldiers heading back from Afghanistan are expected to land in Winnipeg Sunday afternoon, then arrive in Shilo by bus that evening.
