3210

DES FAMILLES SE SOUVIENNENT

3 avril 2010
http://www.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/International/2010/04/03/006-hommage-familles-kandahar.shtml

D'après un reportage de Guy Lapointe

Les familles de neuf soldats canadiens morts en Afghanistan ont fait le voyage jusqu'à Kandahar pour participer samedi à une cérémonie honorant leur mémoire.

Plusieurs des proches des défunts ont déclaré qu'ils étaient opposés au retrait complet des militaires canadiens d'Afghanistan prévu pour l'an prochain.

Ils souhaitent le maintien d'une partie des troupes après 2011. Certains suggèrent qu'elles restent pour former l'armée afghane.

Ces commentaires interviennent quelques jours après que la secrétaire d'État des États-Unis, Hillary Clinton, ait demandé au gouvernement canadien de prolonger sa présence militaire.

D'autres membres des familles veulent que le sang de leur proche n'ait pas été versé pour rien. C'est le cas de la mère d'Andrew Grenon, mort le 3 septembre 2008,

«Je ne veux pas qu'ils soient morts en vain. [...] Même si je ne veux pas qu'il y ait plus de pertes de vie, cette cause est trop importante.«— Theresa Charbonneau, mère d'Andrew Grenon

Les membres des familles des militaires Kevin Kennedy, David Braun, Scott Vernelli, Stephen Bouzane, Vaughan Ingram, Mark McLaren, Aaron Williams et Gregory Kruse étaient aussi présentes.

Ils se sont recueillis près d'un monument commémoratif où sont inscrits les noms des 141 militaires canadiens morts en Afghanistan. Une médaille a été remise à chaque famille.

Il y a deux semaines, les proches de six autres militaires avaient aussi accepté l'invitation de l'armée canadienne de prendre part à un événement semblable à Kandahar. Leur déplacement a été payé par le gouvernement fédéral.

Radio-Canada.ca avec Presse canadienne

*

FAMILIES OF FALLEN MOURN AT KANDAHAR
SOME URGE CANADA NOT TO PULL OUT ENTIRELY

April 3, 2010
The Canadian Press
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/04/03/afghanistan-canadian-easter-visit.html

The families of nine Canadian soldiers killed in combat over the past four years made a solemn Easter weekend pilgrimage to Kandahar, and many of them say Ottawa should not pull out of Afghanistan entirely next year.

(description de la photo) Deborah Warren (left) gets some help with her helmet from Gerald Warren, as the families of some of the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan landed at Kandhar Air Field Saturday to take part in Easter weekend remembrance ceremonies. (Bill Graveland/Canadian Press)

Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and uncles took part in a special ceremony Saturday behind the task force headquarters at Kandahar Airfield, where the faces, names and dates of the 141 dead soldiers are etched into a granite memorial.

Myles Kennedy, who lost his son to a roadside bombing on Easter Sunday 2007, said he was amazed at the scale of NATO's buildup for this spring's planned offensive in Kandahar.

For the first time since his son's death, Kennedy said he's optimistic that the war in Afghanistan can be turned around, and it's happening as Canada is preparing to withdraw all its combat troops next year.

He appealed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to conduct a "phased withdrawal" by perhaps signing on to a proposed training mission in Kabul.

A total pullout of troops would send "the wrong message to the world" and to the soldiers, such as his son, who made enormous sacrifices.

"I don't want him to die in vain," Kennedy said.

"It could be a year. It could be two years of turning this country around. Let's give it time. Let's not walk away from the table when you're holding a winning hand."

"We came in to do a job. And our job will not be complete, if he pulls out the whole group."

DEVELOPMENT NEEDS SECURITY: SOLDIER'S FATHER

Kennedy qualified his statements by saying he understood the army is worn out by four years of warfare and rotations. But, he said, if Canada is going to continue with a development mission, as Harper promised, then it cannot rely on other countries for security.

His son, Pte. Kevin Kennedy of the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment, was among six soldiers who perished on April 8, 2007. The mother and sister of Cpl. Aaron Williams, who died in the same blast, were also on hand for moving family tributes.

Patty Braun, whose son Cpl. David Braun was died in August 2006, said she believes Canadian troops should stay in Afghanistan in some capacity until the tide has completely turned.

The trip to Kandahar was an important personal journey, she said.

"I had to come to the place where my son was last alive. And I needed to smell it. I needed to see. I needed to taste it. And I needed to hear it," said Braun, who wore the shemagh desert scarf that belonged to him and was returned with his personal effects.

"Just to be where he was. We see pictures on TV, but nothing, nothing can show what it's actually like here. It's so much more."

The father and brother of Master Cpl. Scott Vernelli, of the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment who died just over a year ago, also made the journey.

Other soldiers honoured Saturday included Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, Cpl. Stephen Bouzane, Cpl. Andrew Grenon, Cpl. Mark McLaren and Sgt. Gregory Kruse.