Ramp ceremony held for three Cdn. soldiers killed in Afghan ambush

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - As thousands of soldiers began shuffling off the tarmac at Kandahar Airfield following an evening ramp ceremony for three fallen Canadians, Pte. Glen Kirkland slowly rolled up to the belly of the Hercules transport plane and carefully pulled himself out of his wheelchair.

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The Canadian Press

Pvt. Glen Kirkland, in wheelchair, one of five soldiers injured in a direct fire explosion early Wednesday, attends the ramp ceremony for fallen comrades Cpl. Andrew Grenon, Cpl. Mike Seggie and Pvt. Chad Horn, in Khandahar, Afghanistan yesterday.

Walking up the 45 degree incline into the cargo bay where the caskets of 23-year-old Cpl. Andrew Grenon, Cpl. Mike Seggie, 21, and Pte. Chad Horn, 21, sat wrapped in Canadian flags appeared to be a challenge for the injured soldier, but missing out on a final farewell clearly wasn't an option.

All infantrymen with the 2nd battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man., the three soldiers were killed when their armoured vehicle was ambushed in a direct fire attack by insurgents early Wednesday in the perilous Zhari district of Kandahar.

Kirkland and four others were injured in the assault and likely owe their lives to many of the 24 teary-eyed pallbearers who carried the caskets and who are typically drawn from the platoons of the fallen.

In an effort to find something positive in the midst of so much tragedy, battlegroup commander Lt.-Col. Dave Corbould praised their quick actions to save the wounded soldiers who were trapped inside their vehicle.

"The platoon quickly grabbed the initiative, immediately won the firefight, took care of its casualties, got them evacuated to proper medical facilities, all as they have been trained," he said after the ceremony.

"Those five casualties lived to fight another day and there's no doubt that Cpls. Grenon and Seggie and Pte. Horn were looking down at them with pride knowing full well that they were doing what they were supposed to be doing."

Three of the injured soldiers, one of whom remains in critical condition, have since been transferred to a NATO hospital in Germany.