CFB TRENTON, Ont. - Family members, dignitaries and members of the Canadian military lined the tarmac at CFB Trenton, Ont., on Saturday night to pay tribute to three young soldiers killed in a brazen Taliban attack in Afghanistan.
Pte. Chad Horn and Cpls. Andrew Grenon and Mike Seggie were killed in an ambush Wednesday while conducting a security patrol in the volatile Zhari district.
Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The deaths bring to 96 the number of Canadian soldiers killed during the Afghanistan mission since 2002.
The direct fire attack that killed the soldiers, all in their early 20s, shows the insurgency has become "more sophisticated," Canada's new ambassador to Afghanistan said in a recent interview.
"Its timing has improved, its overall strength has improved," Ron Hoffman said Friday.
"That's obviously something that we have to take very seriously."
A direct fire attack on a small combat outpost last month in neighbouring Panjwaii district was responsible for the death of Master Cpl. Erin Doyle. It came weeks after nine U.S. soldiers were killed when insurgents tried to overrun an outpost in the northeastern province of Kunar.
Insurgents have also stepped up attacks on both fuel and food convoys in recent months and even waged a massive assault on Kandahar's Sarposa jail in June that freed hundreds of prisoners, including many suspected insurgents.
Grenon, Seggie and Horn, now the faces of such attacks, are being remembered by family and friends as eager warriors who were proud of their mission and who died doing what they loved.
Grenon firmly believed in Canada's mission and was doing "heroes' work," his family said in a statement.
In a poem Grenon wrote in November 2006, halfway through his first tour of Afghanistan, the soldier wrote of seeing "hate, destruction and depression," but also of seeing "love, warmth, kindness and appreciation."
"Why do we fight?" Grenon wrote in the poem released by his family. "Because, if we don't fight today, on THIS battlefield, then our children will be forced to face these monsters on our own battlefield. I fight because I'm a soldier. I fight because I'm ordered. I fight, so my children won't have to."
The bodies of the latest three Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan are due to arrive Saturday at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario.
Private Chad Horn and Corporals Andrew Grenon and Mike Seggie were killed Wednesday during an attack by Taliban insurgents in the volatile Zhari district. The three - all in their early 20's - were based at CFB Shilo in Manitoba. Five other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Their deaths raises to 96 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in the Afghan mission.
Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean and Defence Minister Peter MacKay will be among the dignitaries who will be on hand when the bodies arrive at CFB Trenton.
