Bodies of 2 fallen Canadian soldiers return home
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 | 7:11 PM ET
CBC News
The family of Maj. Yannick Pepin and Defence Minister Peter MacKay (third left) look on as the soldier's casket is loaded into a hearse at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ont. on Wednesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)The bodies of two Canadian soldiers, including the highest-ranking officer killed in combat in Afghanistan, arrived on home soil Wednesday, as comrades and family members met to greet them at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario.
Maj. Yannick Pepin, 36, and Cpl. Jean-François Drouin, 31, were killed Sunday by a roadside bomb while on patrol southwest of Kandahar.
Pepin and Drouin were members of the 5 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Valcartier, Que. Five other Canadian soldiers injured in the blast are in good condition.
Soldiers at CFB Trenton wait to greet a Canadian military aircraft carrying the bodies of two Canadian soldiers killed Sunday by an explosive device in Afghanistan. (CBC) Pepin, the highest-ranking Canadian killed in combat, was a native of Victoriaville, Que., and Drouin was born in Quebec City.
Family members of the soldiers, including Pepin's partner, Annie, and two children, Alexandra, 6, and Charles, 4, carried flowers to the repatriation ceremony, where soldiers unloaded the two flag-draped coffins.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Vice-Admiral Denis Rouleau were also in attendance.
On Monday, more than 1,000 Canadian, U.S., Dutch and British soldiers attended a ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield to honour their comrades-in-arms.
Since 2002, the Afghan mission has claimed the lives of 129 Canadian soldiers.
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