Remembering Our Fallen - Dec 6

A tragic milestone has been reached in Afghanistan. A hundred of our finest men and women have fallen. Here's my tribute.

A Primer on Military Rank Structure

Pte./Tpr./Gnr./Spr.: Private, Trooper, Gunner and Sapper. Privates are infantry, Troopers are armor, Gunners are artillery and a Sapper is an Electrical Mechanical Engineer (EME). The foundation of any army in the field.

Cpl and MCpl.: Corporal and a Master Corporal. Both are junior non-commisioned ranks. Bombadiers (Bdr.) are the corporal equivalent in the artillery.

Sgt. and WO: Sargeant and Warrant Officer. These are senior non-commisioned ranks. A MWO is a Master Warrant Officer and a CWO is a Chief Warrant Officer.

Lt. and Capt.: Lieutenant and Captain. Junior officer ranks. Major and above are senior officer ranks.

A Guide to the Fallen

A typical entry will look like this:

Cpl. Joe Bloggins - 21 - 1/1

Corporal Joe Bloggins died at the age of 21 on January the 1st (MM/DD). Entries are listed in chronological order from earliest to latest. Multiple deaths on the same day are separated by commas. Thanks to the Toronto Star for their touching tributes to each one.

Our Glorious Dead

2002 to 2005

Sgt. Marc Leger - 29, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer - 24, Pte. Richard Green - 21, Pte. Nathan Smith - 26 - 4/18/02
Sgt. Robert Short - 42, Cpl. Robert Beerenfenger - 29 - 10/2/03
Cpl. Jamie Murphy - 26 - 1/27/04
Pte. Braun Woodfield - 24 - 11/24/05

2006

Cpl. Paul Davis - 28, MCpl. Timothy Wilson - 30 - 3/4
Pte. Robert Costall - 22 - 3/29
Cpl. Matthew Dinning - 23, Bdr. Myles Mansell - 25, Cpl. Randy Payne - 32, Lt. William Turner - 45 - 4/22
Capt. Nicola Goddard - 26 - 5/17
Cpl. Anthony Boneca - 21 - 7/9
Cpl. Francisco Gomez - 44, Cpl. Jason Warren - 29 - 7/22
Cpl. Christopher Wren - 34, Pte. Kevin Dallaire - 22, Sgt. Vaughan Ingram - 35, Cpl. Bryce Keller - 27 - 8/3
MCpl. Raymond Arndt - 31 - 8/5
MCpl. Jeffrey Walsh - 33 - 8/9
Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom - 23 - 8/11
Cpl. David Braun - 27 - 8/22
Sgt. Shane Stachnik - 30, WO Frank Mellish - 38, WO Richard Nolan - 39, Pte. William Cushley - 21 - 9/3
Pte. Mark Graham - 33 - 9/4
Pte. David Byers - 22, Cpl. Shane Keating - 30, Cpl. Keith Morley - 30, Cpl. Glen Arnold -32 - 9/18
Pte. Josh Klukie - 23 - 9/29
Cpl. Robert Mitchell - 32, Sgt. Craig Gilliam - 40 - 10/3
Tpr. Mark Wilson - 39 - 10/7
Sgt. Darcy Tedford - 32, Pte. Blake Williamson - 23 - 10/14
CWO Robert Girouard - 46, Cpl. Albert Storm - 36 - 11/27

2007

Cpl. Kevin Megeney - 25 - 3/6
Pte. Kevin Kennedy - 20, Pte. David Greenslade - 20, Cpl. Aaron Williams - 23, Cpl. Christopher Stannix - 24, Cpl. Brent Poland - 37, Sgt. Donald Lucas - 31 - 4/8
Tpr. Patrick Pentland - 23, MCpl Allan Stewart - 31 - 4/11
MCpl Anthony Klumpenhouwer - 25 - 4/18
Cpl. Matthew McCully - 25 - 5/25
MCpl. Darrell Priede - 30 - 5/30
Tpr. Darryl Caswell - 25 - 6/12
Sgt. Christos Karigiannis - 31, Cpl. Stephen Bouzane - 26, Pte. Joel Wiebe - 22 - 6/20/07
Capt. Matthew Dawe - 27, MCpl Colin Bason - 28, Cpl. Cole Bartsch - 23, Pte. Lane Watkins - 20, Cpl. Jordan Anderson - 25, Capt. Jefferson Francis - 37 - 7/4
Pte. Simon Longtin - 23 - 8/19
MWO Mario Mercier - 43, MCpl Christian Duchesne - 34 - 8/22
Maj. Raymond Ruckpaul - 42 - 8/29
Cpl. Nathan Hornburg - 24 - 9/24
Pte. Michel Leveaque - 25, Cpl. Nicolas Beauchamp - 28 - 11/17
Gnr. Jonathan Dion - 27 - 12/30

2008

Cpl. Eric Labbe - 31, WO Hani Massouh - 41 - 1/6
Tpr. Richard Renaud - 26 - 1/15
Cpl. Etienne Gonthier - 21 - 1/23
Tpr. Michael Hayakaze - 25 - 3/2
Bdr. Jeremie Ouellet - 22 - 3/11
Sgt. Jason Boyes - 32 - 3/16
Pte. Terry Street - 24 - 4/4
Cpl. Michael Starker - 36 - 5/6
Capt. Richard Leary - 32 - 6/3
Capt. Jonathan Snyder - 26 - 6/7
Cpl. Brendan Downey - 37 - 7/4
Pte. Colin Wilmot - 24 - 7/5
Cpl. James Arnal - 25 - 7/18
MCpl Joshua Roberts - 29 - 8/9
Spr. Stephan Stock - 25, Cpl. Dustin Wasden - 25, Sgt. Shawn Eades - 33 - 8/21
Cpl. Andrew Grenon - 23, Cpl. Michael Seggie - 21, Pte. Chad Horn - 21, Sgt. Scott Shipway - 36 - 9/3
Cpl. Mark McLaren - 23, Pte. Demetrios Diplaros - 24, WO Robert John Wilson - 27 - 12/5

May we never forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Johnny Cash