EDMONTON -- Canada's fallen soldiers will receive a hero's send-off with full military funerals, the Canadian Armed Forces announced yesterday.
Col. Stuart Beare said the four soldiers killed by "friendly fire" in Afghanistan will receive full military honours at home-town funerals attended by top military officers from across Canada.
Sgt. Marc Leger's grandmothers weep as his casket arrives at CFB Trenton. A solemn Defence Minister Art Eggleton (left) and Chretien look on.
No details were announced.
The announcement came on the heels of emotional ceremonies in Germany and CFB Trenton, Ont., as the bodies of the fallen four -- Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Nathan Smith, Pte. Richard Green and Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer -- made a slow and sombre journey home.
Beare said the deaths of the soldiers during a training exercise last Thursday near Kandahar would be foremost on the minds of Canadian soldiers in the days ahead.
"This is a journey -- not a one-day event," he said. "We know we will have to return to this and take care of our own feelings and our own families."
Beare said soldiers of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry will serve as pallbearers at funerals that will include traditional gun salutes and the sound of trumpets sounding the Last Post and Reveille.
He said spouses and parents of the deceased will receive the soldiers' medals, berets and a Canadian flag "from a grateful nation."
Beare said six other soldiers wounded in the mistaken U.S. bombing attack will be returning to Edmonton on Tuesday.
He said they will be greeted at Edmonton International Airport by their families and military officials and will be transported to the University of Alberta Hospital for assessment. Some of the soldiers with less serious injuries will be allowed to return to their homes the following day.
In Trenton, Leger's grandmothers were comforted by Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his wife, Aline, as the soldier's casket was carried from a military aircraft to a waiting hearse.
Some Ontario residents waved Canadian flags from highway overpasses as the convoy of four hearses carrying the soldiers rolled into Toronto, where they were to be examined by a coroner.
It was a sombre day at Edmonton Garrison, where families of all the troops deployed in Afghanistan gathered for what was initially planned as a family day before the tragedy.
Beare used the occasion to outline details of the assistance provided to the families of the victims. He said the families discussed what they can do for each other to support the home front and the soldiers overseas.
-- Canadian Press
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