Soldier shot at Canadian War Memorial!

[Natalka]

It was a beautiful service - private interment to take place at a field of honour at a Hamilton Cemetery.

[Anna Michele]

I drove through the city the whole downtown area was blocked off and police were detouring traffic many downtown businesses had signs saying R.I.P. Cpl Nathan Cirillo. it was a real sense of a communal loss. Such a sad tradegy especially touching when it is here at home

[FallenPixels]

Even outside of downtown a lot of larger businesses had signs that they were dressing down / not in uniforms and making a donation - many wearing red and poppies too

A light moment, I saw several soldiers earlier this morning and a little girl went up to a soldier and told him "my mummy said I have to wear panties under my skirt but my auntie says you people don't wear anything under your skirts and you are special people so I shouldn't have to either". It was nice to see them burst out laughing at her (and her mother's embarrassment).

Downtown however was insane today, as well as many street being closed, another major street (one they had originally made a detour route for today) was closed due to a gas leak. Took me 40 mins for a journey that would usually be 10.

[Darth Penguin]

<ye olde joke>...What's worn under a Scotman's kilt??

Nothing...it's all in perfect working order..</ ye olde joke>

[Natalka]

Cpl. Branden Stevenson (right) stands guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa on Monday, less than two weeks after his friend Nathan Cirillo was fatally shot at the same location.


Cpl. Branden Stevenson — the friend and fellow army reservist who was guarding the National War Memorial with Cpl. Nathan Cirillo when the 24-year-old was fatally shot last month — was back on guard at the Ottawa monument Monday for the first time since the tragedy.

In his Monday statement, Stevenson said the attack “left me in shock and grieving the loss of my best friend.
“My heart goes out to his family for the terrible loss they have to endure. I am still struggling to cope with everything that has happened.”


Here’s the full text of Branden Stevenson's statement:

"Nathan Cirillo was my friend, though he was more like a brother. We met in Grade 9 and from that time on, we were pretty much inseparable. He was the first from our group of friends to join the Canadian Armed Forces and it earned him the nickname 'Army Nate.' It was his love of the Army that inspired me to join, and I remember going to his house to practice my swearing-in ceremony.

"We did everything together from hanging at the mall to going on double dates, so it was an incredible honour when we were both chosen to come to the National War Memorial to stand-to as sentries. We were very proud to be here together watching over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, honouring all those who have fallen.

"Over the past few years, Nathan and I would routinely drive around together, making jokes that no one else would understand. Neither of us had much of a voice, but that didn't stop us from singing along with every song on the radio, whether we knew the words or not. It seemed as if we were always laughing and joking about something. The morning of October 22 was no different. As we stood sentry and walked the beat, one of my socks was sagging. Nathan smiled and intentionally kept our walk going so my sock would fall a little more. He had such an amazing personality!

"What happened shortly after left me in shock and grieving the loss of my best friend. My heart goes out to his family for the terrible loss they have to endure. I am still struggling to cope with everything that has happened. My family, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Hamilton, and my extended family within the Canadian Armed Forces are helping me through this very difficult time. I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from across Canada and around the world.

"In the coming days, I'll be resuming my duties at the National War Memorial. It will not be an easy task, but I am resolved to do it in honour of Nathan, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, and all those who stood, and continue to stand, on guard for Canada. I still believe Canada is a nation of peace where soldiers within its borders need not take up arms. My fellow soldiers and I remain proud and committed to watching over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a strong, silent reminder of every person who made the ultimate sacrifice."

"I now have to learn to live without someone who was closer to me than I can put into words. When I resume my post, I will not be conducting interviews with media. I appreciate, in advance, your consideration and respect for my privacy during this difficult time.

"Nathan Cirillo was my friend, my best friend, my brother. I will miss him forever."


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/cpl-nathan-cirillo-s-best-friend-back-on-duty-at-ottawa-war-memorial-1.2822026



Branden and Nathan

[Darth Penguin]

https://www.facebook.com/andrea.polko

Nathan Cirillo was my boyfriend. I loved him deeply, as did all of the family and friends who knew him and we all still mourn him every day. That being said, I feel I should weigh in on this ridiculous "was he a hero or was he not" debate. My response is this:
WAKE UP CANADA.
What we SHOULD be talking about is the dismal state of mental healthcare in our country.
What that deeply disturbed man killing my boyfriend SHOULD make Canadians focus on is how we can PREVENT another event like this through more accessible and effective mental health treatment programs that target the REAL source of this tragedy.
Stop tearing apart the honour and love bestowed upon a wonderful man who deserves every bit of it and start taking a good hard look at the awful, dysfunctional systems in our nation that this has shown us NEED TO CHANGE.
FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS HERE AND WHAT WE CAN GAIN AS EXPERIENCE FROM THIS, AS A COUNTRY.
I am a very proud Canadian, but the fact that this hero/not business is what the media here and the general public has chosen to talk about, I must say I am very disappointed.
WE CAN DO, AND ARE, BETTER THAN THIS, CANADA.
For those of you who would like to share my words, please do so. I feel as though this is an important discussion that needs to continue happening.



Share

[FallenPixels]

She is referring to this story from our local newspaper, The Spectator (copied as they tend to lock stories to subscribers)

The prime minister is back in Ottawa; the church robes are tucked way; and the bagpipe laments to blood and sacrifice have faded into memory.
What lingers is the sorrow and a nagging question: Why is Cpl. Nathan Cirillo being mythologized as a hometown and national hero?
The 24-year-old Hamilton reservist was murdered in cold blood by a homeless crack addict with terrorist notions while he was ceremonially guarding the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Cirillo's death was tragic and senseless, but in no way was it heroic. By the time this week's regimental funeral took place, Cirillo's death had snowballed into an overwhelming spectacle of public mourning.
By definition, a hero is someone singled out from the rest of us by their outstanding courage. The accolade traditionally isn't bestowed for simply wearing a uniform, be it military, police or firefighter. The honour is accrued by performing brave deeds and daring feats — risking or sacrificing your life to save others, valiantly defending a position, boldly destroying the enemy.
Cirillo may have possessed those heroic qualities and might even have had a chance to display them had he lived. But he didn't. He died unprepared and unarmed, the unlucky victim of a seemingly deranged killer who was himself gunned down after storming Parliament.
And yet the random nature of Cirillo's death has in no way impeded his posthumous promotion to hero in headlines, articles, comments, tweets and even a local billboard.
Does that mean anyone who dies while in uniform is automatically a hero? If so, what do we call those who really do perform lion-hearted acts?
The sad reality is we're doing truth an injustice by minimizing the true meaning of the word and elevating Cirillo into something he wasn't. By all means, the city should appropriately commemorate him. But as a lost son at the heart of a wrenching tragedy, not some kind of warrior-saint. Cirillo's journey from innocent victim to national hero is a cautionary tale onto itself.
There's no question his meaningless murder at the cenotaph so close to Remembrance Day, combined with the assault on Parliament, struck Canadians as a desecration of our heritage and historic values. The rush of relief that came with knowing it was the work of a lone shooter, rather than a co-ordinated conspiracy, gave lift and depth to the empathy churned up by the death of the good-looking young soldier.
Would the emotional outpouring have been as strong if Cirillo hadn't been so photogenic? We don't know, of course. But there's little doubt his physical attractiveness gave poignancy to the tragedy, as did the fact he was a young single father. That poignancy gained momentum as his body was returned to Hamilton along the Highway of Heroes, the funeral convoy route for fallen Canadians soldiers from the Afghanistan war.
Thousands lined the way, waving Canadian flags, spontaneously showing sympathy for Cirillo, his family, friends and comrades in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
Hopefully, his poor mother took some comfort from it all.
Soon Cirillo's death had taken on an emotional life of its own, complete with saturation media coverage of every aspect of the funeral arrangements.
Emotion is contagious and it spread like wildfire. People felt intimately connected to the family. Cirillo's grief-stricken mother became all grief-stricken mothers, his orphaned son, all orphaned sons. People were not only touched by their loss, they were moved by images and stories of other people mourning.
The more connections there were, the more people needed to be part of it.
By the time this week's regimental funeral took place, Cirillo's death had snowballed into an overwhelming spectacle of public mourning, military pageantry and religious ceremony that was feeding on itself.
As a result, even before the prime minister was whisked away, before the church lights dimmed, before the bagpipes fell silent, Cirillo had achieved what amounts to secular canonization.
Through no action of his own, the accidental victim had become an accidental hero. But sadly, like all accident victims, he just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This lead to them losing subscribers, an online petition to fire the author and a scathing letter to the editor (which in fairness, they did publish) from a member of the Argylls

[FallenPixels]

It is nice to see them out and about in uniform/fatigues again too

[Anna Michele]

If you look at the back right-hand side of a Canadian $10 bill, you will see an old veteran standing at attention near the Ottawa War Memorial. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month at the age of 90.
That he managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what happened in the Second World War. Born in England , he was one of the 400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique - the Blitzkrieg.
He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel.
En route to hospital, his ambulance came under fire from a German tank, which then miraculously ceased fire. Evacuated from Dunkirk on HMS Grenade, two of the sister ships with them were sunk.
Recovered, he was sent to allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy . En route, his ship was chased by the German battleship Bismarck .
In North Africa he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox, Rommel.
Sent into the Italian campaign, he met his future wife, a lieutenant and physio-therapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British padre.
After the war, they settled in Chatham , Ontario , where he went into politics and became the warden (chairman) of the county, and on his retirement he and his wife moved to Ottawa . At the age of 80 he wrote a book about his experiences.
One day out of the blue he received a call from a government official asking him to go downtown for a photo op. He wasn't told what the photo was for, or why they chose him. 'He had no idea he would be on the bill,' his daughter said.
And now you know the story of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

[Natalka]

AM, thanks for sharing that!

[trishka]

She is referring to this story from our local newspaper, The Spectator (copied as they tend to lock stories to subscribers)


This lead to them losing subscribers, an online petition to fire the author and a scathing letter to the editor (which in fairness, they did publish) from a member of the Argylls

Interesting. Not sure why they thought that running an article like that was a good idea. The author fails to note the whole definition of a hero which includes outstanding achievement and noble qualities. I think someone has to have noble qualities to be chosen as a guard of honour. Very poor taste for the Spectator to run this.

[FallenPixels]

I very rarely read his columns despite getting the paper daily, I find very little I agree with him on and often they are based on his opinion of facts and not actual facts - which is saying something since in general I like columns about politics.

His recent columns on the municipal election for example, he was obviously pro candidate, the paper decided not to endorse any of them - which he disagreed with in a recent column where he said the person who came 3rd ran the best campaign. He speaks on behalf of other editorial board members saying they were blown away by him - but they chose not to endorse him which tells me they likely do not agree

[trishka]

I very rarely read his columns despite getting the paper daily, I find very little I agree with him on and often they are based on his opinion of facts and not actual facts - which is saying something since in general I like columns about politics.

His recent columns on the municipal election for example, he was obviously pro candidate, the paper decided not to endorse any of them - which he disagreed with in a recent column where he said the person who came 3rd ran the best campaign. He speaks on behalf of other editorial board members saying they were blown away by him - but they chose not to endorse him which tells me they likely do not agree

Sounds like this guy is the Spectator's version of the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington. Articles are rarely based on fact and only on his opinion, which is often stated as fact. He too was upset that the Sun endorsed John Tory in the Toronto election instead of his buddy Ford. I am not a regular reader of the Sun, but I have not read an article written by Warmington in years, with the exception of one a month or so ago and that was only because it was related to my work.

[Natalka]

Military bases in Iraq to be named after fallen soldiers Vincent and Cirillo

The Canadian Armed Forces will name two operating bases in Iraq after Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who were killed in violent attacks last month.The Department of National Defence made the announcement Monday saying members of the Canadian Forces deployed in Operation IMPACT decided to rename the bases to commemorate Vincent and Cirillo, as well as all soldiers who died while serving their country in Canada.

One of the locations, an air force base in Iraq, will be named “Camp Vincent,” and an operations base for the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command will be named “Patrol Base Cirillo,” the department said in a statement.

“The tragic deaths of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo have saddened all those who wear the uniform,” said Lt.-General J.H. Vance, a commander with the Canadian Joint Operations Command, in a statement. “The naming of Patrol Base Cirillo and Camp Vincent will allow personnel deployed to those areas – as well as allies who visit the installations – to mark the passing of two proud Canadians, and all those who died in the service of their country on home soil.”

http://globalnews.ca/news/1664134/mi...t-and-cirillo/

[Natalka]

'We remember them, and we honour their service to Canada,'
Governor General says of 2 soldiers killed in 2014

A crowd of about 2,000 people — including hundreds of soldiers, government officials and citizens — gathered at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa on Thursday to honour the two soldiers killed on their home soil last year, and to pay tribute to the families still adjusting to life without them and the first responders who stepped in to help.

"It's been one year. We continue to grieve, we continue to heal," said Gov. Gen. David Johnston in his speech to mark "a painful anniversary."
"We remember them, and we honour their service to Canada," Johnston said. "Their duty was to defend us and to bravely stand on guard for their country. Ours is to remember their sacrifice, and to remember why they served."

A bugler sounded the Last Post, The Rouse and The Lament through an otherwise silent memorial plaza, and two minutes of silence were observed.
Four CF-18 Hornet fighter jets flew past in missing man formation — one jet moving away from the others to signify lives lost.




Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper

Johnston laid a wreath as well, accompanied by Cpl. Brandon Stevenson, the ceremonial guard who was standing sentry next to Cirillo the morning he was killed.

After the public proceedings were over, a plaque to commemorate Cirillo's life was unveiled in a private ceremony at the southeast side of the memorial site. A plaque to commemorate Vincent is expected to be unveiled in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in 2016.

More pics here, of the families (sorry, I couldn't copy them here)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...ater-1.3272984