Remembering The Fallen

The Canadian Press—CFB Trenton, Ont.

The 108th Canadian soldier to die during the Afghanistan mission was returned to Canadian soil yesterday in a military aircraft.The plane carrying the body of Sapper Sean Greenfield landed at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario just after 2 p.m. Greenfield, 25, died Saturday when his armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Kandahar province.

Jennifer Reid-Hudson, who said her son was in the same vehicle as Greenfield when it was hit, travelled from Ottawa to pay her respects.She said her son, Cpl. Gregory Hudson, wasn’t seriously hurt in the incident and is fine.“This hits pretty close to home,” she said.Reid-Hudson recalled meeting Greenfield and some of his colleagues at a Remembrance Day ceremony last year.“They are a very tight group of guys,” she said. “They seem like family.”

Christina Steeles and her husband Rob made the trip from nearby Frankford, Ont., as they have done for numerous other repatriation ceremonies.“It doesn’t matter if it’s sweltering outside or freezing cold — we come out and pay our respects,” she said. “But it is getting harder as the body count goes up.”

Greenfield was a member of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment, serving with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group.Colleagues say Greenfield, who was based in Petawawa, Ont., had a natural charisma who drew a crowd whenever he brought out his guitar and sang.