A convoy of police cars escorted the body of Cpl. Zachery McCormack home to Edmonton Friday afternoon. (CBC)A procession of police cars, lights flashing, escorted the body of Cpl. Zachery McCormack home from Afghanistan Friday afternoon as officers saluted along the side of the road.
Zachery, 21, was killed Dec. 30 outside Kandahar City, when his light armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb.
Sgt. George Miok, 28, also from Sherwood Park, was killed in the same blast. His body was returned home earlier in the day.
Also killed in the blast were Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, of Yarmouth, N.S.; Pte. Garrett William Chidley, 21, of Langley, B.C.; and Michelle Lang, 34, a reporter with the Calgary Herald.
Cpl. Zachery McCormack (left) and Sgt. George Miok were killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 30. (Department of National Defence)The Friday afternoon procession started at the Edmonton International Airport, went up Gateway Boulevard, and then east on Argyle Road into Sherwood Park, where McCormack lived.
Dozen of vehicles topped with "Support our Soldiers" flags followed the hearse carrying McCormack, all of them flashing their hazard lights. Other people stood alongside the road to pay their respects.
Jerard Hyland was one of them. He was good friends with Sgt. Miok.
"Since the 30th of December, the whole war has taken on a new perspective for me altogether," Hyland said. "It's changed my world, it's come a lot closer to home. I don't know, just, yeah, it didn't seem as real before, and now it's really touched home."
Funerals for McCormack and Miok are scheduled for Saturday in Sherwood Park.
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