"Highway of Heroes - It's official"

It’s official! Highway of Heroes:

Province approves designation for

Highway 401 Trenton to Toronto

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Article by: Pete Fisher -Friday, August 24, 2007
It’s official! The stretch of Highway 401 between Trenton and Toronto will now be known as the Highway of Heroes in honour of Canada’s fallen soldiers. "We’re going to do it," exclaimed Minister of Transportation Donna Cansfield speaking with the Cobourg Daily Star Friday. Ms.
Cansfield was at a caucus retreat spoke shortly after the Premier held a media scrum to announce the decision. "The Premier wants this done, and done right away," Ms. Cansfield said. "I think it’s wonderful. "Every time you go down the highway and a child asks about the sign — they learn. It’s a living legacy." CTV has said the highway will not lose it’s official designation as the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, but signs designating the route as the Highway of Heroes will be erected along the route from Trenton to Toronto. Ms. Cansfield said everyone at the government retreat said positive things about the name designation. Members of the provincial government will now be consulting with members from two Legions group to work on the proper signage for the highway. It’s expected the unveiling of the signs will take place at C.F.B. Trenton.

401 Bridges Lined to Honour Canadian Soldier

Photo credit: Pete Fisher
Emergency services personnel and citizens line a
401 overpass bridge at Cobourg in honour of the
passing procession bearing the body of Canada's
55th casualty in Afghanistan, Corporal Matthew McCully.

Northumberland County honours Afghan combat fatalities
With transport horns honking in the background, Peg Smith could hardly get the words out to explain why she came to the Ontario Street bridge in Cobourg to watch the procession carrying the remains of Corporal Matthew McCully pass by Monday evening. Corporal McCully was killed May 25 at approximately 8 a.m. Kandahar time by an improvised explosive device while conducting a joint Afghan-Canadian foot patrol close to the village of Nalgham, approximately 35 km west of Kandahar City. It’s the first time Ms. Smith has come to the overpass to watch the funereal procession for a fallen Canadian Armed Forces member as it passes from CFB Trenton to Toronto.
"I feel bad," an emotional Ms. Smith said, her 12-year-old daughter Becky standing beside her. Across Northumberland County, between Trenton and Toronto, it has become a tradition for emergency personnel and citizens to gather on bridges spanning Highway 401 to salute fallen forces personnel and their families. Monday night, bridges from Brighton west to Port Hope had people standing vigil. Every Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan is repatriated at CFB Trenton. The body is then directly transported o Toronto for an autopsy. Cobourg resident Peter O’Donnell said he has witnessed approximately 40 of the 55 Canadian forces personnel killed in Afghanistan passing through Northumberland County. Wearing a red shirt with the word "Canada" and a "Support the Troops " hat, he says has a number of reasons why he chooses to come to a bridge spanning Highway 401. "I’m a very strong military supporter and I also have a son who is currently in Afghanistan. I have a daughter in the navy. I feel it’s my duty to be here to honour our fallen. "It’s to let the families know that we are behind their son, their daughter and that we mourn with them." Although he comes each time to the overpass, because their son is serving in Afghanistan, his wife can’t bring herself to come to the bridge, Mr. O'Donnell says. "It’s devastating because I know what my wife and I go through on a daily basis. My wife will not come here tonight, not because she lacks respect, but because she’s a wreck - it’s that simple." Ms. Smith and her daughter were the first ones on the Cobourg bridge Monday. They were joined later by many others wearing red and carrying Canadian flags. Although it’s the first time she has gone to the bridge, if another Canadian soldier falls in the line of duty, she said she and her daughter will be at the bridge to show their support.

Fallen Soldier is Returning Home

May 28, 2007
Our fallen soldier, Corporal Matthew McCully, a member of 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signal Squadron (2 CMBG HQ & Sig Sqn), based in Petawawa, Ontario, is scheduled to return home to Canada today.
Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.
When: Monday, May 28, 7:30 p.m.
Present to pay their respects will be The Minister of National Defence, Gordon O'Connor, and other dignitaries.

Bless him on his journey home.

A further note: In Northumberland County, there will be people standing on bridges over Highway 401 at Colborne, Grafton, Cobourg and Port Hope to mark the passing of the hearse and escort vehicles.

9:01 pm

Canadian Soldier, Cpl. Matthew McCully was returned to Canadian soil to his family today at CFB Trenton during a repatriation ceremony.
A CC-130 Hercules aircraft carrying his remains touched down at the base just before 7:30 p.m.
The final note of the piper's skirl hung heavily in the still night air as eight Canadian soldiers carried the flag-draped casket of Cpl. Matthew McCully across the tarmac at this eastern Ontario military base.
Governor General Michaelle Jean, Cief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier and Defence minister Gordon O’Connor joined military officials and grieving relatives on the tarmac as McCully’s casket was carried from the aircraft by fellow soldiers. Just metres away, McCully’s mother, Valerie McGrady, locked arms with her daughter, Shannon, and her partner, Neil Weise. McCully’s younger brother, Daniel, stood beside them—solemnly staring into the open hearse. McCully’s father, Ron, wearing a white cowboy hat and dark sunglasses, clutched red and white roses. His wife, Michelle, hugged his left arm as his son’s casket was lowered into the hearse for the last leg of its journey home. McGrady knelt on the ground after placing a single red rose on her son’s coffin before military officials guided the family into three waiting black limousines. The limousines drove slowly from the tarmac—passing one large and half-a-dozen small Canadian flags placed on the base’s barbed-wire fence by Bob and Demetra Belear of Belleville, Ont.
Bob Belear said he and his wife have been to almost every repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton, and he said they always hang the flags on the fence out of respect for the soldiers. “The flag is our country’s flag, and these men and women are serving our country,” he said. “When you see civilians on this side of the fence, it shows respect for the sacrifice they made.”

"Thank you Mr. & Mrs Belear" on behalf of military familes and friends.

"As well, thank you Mr. Don Cherry for your reflection during the hockey intermission in regards to Canada's fallen soldier- Cpl Matthew McCully."

Cpl Kevin Megeney

Canada's Fallen Soldier, CPL. Kevin Megeney,

Begins His Journey Home to Heavy Hearts

06-March 2007
Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
Photos by: Cpl Dan Pop

Members of Joint Task Force Afghanistan conduct a "ramp ceremony" for the departure of the remains of Corporal Kevin Megeney at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan (KAF). Corporal Megeney, a reservist from the 1st Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders located in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, died on 6 March 2007 from a gunshot wound sustained on KAF. Joint Task Force Afghanistan’s National Investigation Service Detachment is investigating the matter.
Comrades gathered Wednesday to say goodbye to a Canadian soldier who died in a mysterious shooting in his tent at the Kandahar air field in Afghanistan.
"He was generally, I think, one of the best people I've ever met. A little red-headed guy with the biggest heart," Master Cpl. Nathan Crosby of 1st Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders, said Wednesday of Cpl. Kevin Megeney.
The dead soldier's comrades stood 10-deep under the lights of the night-time ramp ceremony.
"Ask anybody who knows him and they'd all say the same thing: Everybody loves him," said Crosby, a pallbearer.
Cpl. Brent Bowden, another pallbearer and platoon mate, will be accompanying Megeney's body home.
"It was an honour to be a friend of his. It's an honour to know his family. And it's an honour to me as well to be going back with him," he said.
Megeney, who was assigned as a guard at the main gate into the Kandahar base, died as Canadians began a major deployment as part of Operation Achilles in southern Afghanistan.

A Veteran Comforts Cpl. Megeney's father during repatriation at CFB Trenton.

To the Megeney Family, friends and comrades:

My heart and prayers are with you as you try to cope with and suffer the loss of a hero our Canadian Hero. He was a brave soldier, venturing to a land to help others whom had never met. God bless you and Cpl Megeney. ~m.m.

Display Yellow Ribbons

It was a little more than 6 months ago today that I went to Trenton for a "dry run" ha ha ( a couple weeks before my son's deployment.) There at the fence, I met a mother of a soldier (who was being deployed that day.) I stood back, and took some pictures for her of her son's plane. I sobbed, knowing I would be that mother in 2 weeks. I could only imagine how she felt.. I too would be in her shoes.. seeing a son bravely leave for a land on the other side of the world, not knowing what he would encounter and what would present itself to them.
After seeing the dot of a plane and the noise of the engine disappear into the skies, she turned and we hugged, crying together. Since that date, we have been in contact with each other, supporting each other. It's hard to believe it was 6 months ago... now our sons are coming home. As with other military moms, "Section Moms", military families, and friends, our yellow ribbons are up awaiting their return home.

"Thank you C." ~from Military Mom.


Adams' plane departing Trenton

Waving and wiping tears as the plane taxis down the runway

His plane flies up into the clouds to a land so far away,
a destiny many brave soldiers have journeyed.

Display yellow ribbons,
February 13, 2007
By Times-Journal Staff

Carol Adams looks out the window of her Talbotville home and counts.“I have three … four … five … eight; one on each post of the front porch and the three trees, and the mailbox.”She is counting the yellow ribbons she has tied as a show of support for her son, Capt. Ryan Adams, operations officer for 31 CER (The Elgins), and for other Elgins in Afghanistan.Since summer, Ryan Adams has been one of 12 members of the unit serving overseas on Canada’s mission.
With their expected return beginning this week, Carol Adams is hoping the community will join in a salute of yellow ribbons throughout St. Thomas and Elgin.“I think it would be great for the community to show its support, to welcome the troops home with yellow ribbons,” says the Mary Kay area representative who is married to retired London, Ont., police detective Bill Adams. He’s also a past president of the Royal Canadian Legion Lord Elgin Branch 41, St. Thomas.An Elgin now serving in the regular armed force, Ryan Adams and the reservists he’s with come from communities across the region. And in Guelph, Ont., the city has tied yellow ribbons to city hall and other public buildings in their honour.The continued campaign is being promoted by a military mom, who has posted it to a blog at militarymomathome.blogspot.com.
Adams doesn’t speak directly about her concern for her son, 29, a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Western Ontario. A younger brother is studying political science and economics at the school.Ryan Adams was home at Christmas on leave and Carol Adams said it was difficult to see him return to Afghanistan. She repeats, “We’ll be glad to have him home.”But she says she has been heartened by the yellow ribbons she has seen already in the community.She acknowledges -- and respects -- the debate about Canada’s place in Afghanistan but says she believes everyone, no matter what stand, still can support the individual men and women who are tasked with the mission.And says Bill Adams, “People are extremely supportive.”

Canada Goes Shopping

Boeing and Canada Sign C$3.4 Billion Deal for Four C-17s

Feb 2 -Boeing Co., the second-biggest U.S. defense contractor, signed a C$3.4 billion contract with the Canadian military for four C-17 Globemaster III's transport aircrafts for Canada's Department of National Defence to provide new strategic airlift mobility capabilities for the Canadian Forces. The first delivery will occur as soon as fall 2007. The Canadian C-17's will be based at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
Public Works Minister Michael Fortier and National Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor made the announcement today in Ottawa. General Rick Hillier, Canada's top soldier, said the planes will help with military missions in the country's Arctic region and abroad in places such as in Afghanistan.
``It is going to enable us to be there, to be there with the right loads,'' Hillier said.
Boeing will deliver the aircraft from its Long Beach, Calif., factory where the advanced airlifters are assembled.

"Boeing is pleased that Canada joins its international partners -- the U.S. Air Force, the U.K. Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force -- in selecting C-17, the world's leading airlifter to modernize its defense forces airlift fleet," said Dave Bowman, vice president and C-17 program manager. "We look forward to delivering C-17s and a new world-class airlift capability to Canada, with industry-leading safety, quality and reliability that all C-17 customers enjoy."
As the only tactical airlifter with strategic range, the C-17 has become the world's airlifter of choice. Boeing is on contract to design, build, deliver and support 190 U.S. Air Force C-17s. The new Canadian C-17s are already factored into the C-17 production plan and will not extend the Long Beach production line beyond mid-2009, when the last C-17 is scheduled for delivery. In addition to the 160 C-17s now in service with the U.S. Air Force, the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force operates four C-17s, and the Royal Australian Air Force in late 2006 took delivery of its first of four C-17s. With today's announcement, Canada will become the fourth nation to operate C-17s.

For anyone is interested, as part of its "Road Stories: The Home Front" special, the National will be featuring hour long stories from:
CFB Edmonton on Monday, December 11,
CFB Trenton on Tuesday December 12,
CFB Petawawa on Wednesday,December 13th.

It examines soldiers preparing for duty in Afghanistan, as well as their families preparing for their absence. Travelling the Canadian Bases to show you the home front of the Afghanistan Mission.

CBC "The National" (Waterloo Region - 10:00pm Channel 5 or 9:00pm ch 26)
I caught Tuesday's - from CFB Trenton. It was interesting seeing the care packages at Trenton.
(I think I saw some of mine- the ones with loads of twisted tape on them - as I'm still struggling with the tape gun) They also reported on pre-deployment struggles, repatriation, and training.
I'll check with CBC to see if a video is available for purchase if anyone is interested.