Kandahar combat veteran Master Cpl. Tyler Latta of Edmonton and St. Thomas, Ont., has been praised by senior Canadian commanders for the heroic role he played last September in Kabul in helping to repel the Taliban’s biggest co-ordinated attack since they were ousted from power in 2001. “It was a quintessentially Canadian moment with Latta leading the charge,” said Col. Pete Dawe, who commands more than 900 Canadian trainers tasked since late last spring with advising the Afghan army. “He could have hunkered down in a bunker but he risked rushing to the wall because nobody else was there and when he got there he fired and controlled the orders.” Latta is 28 years old, on his third Afghan tour and “wise beyond his years,” his colonel said. “He seized the moment and shone. Other coalition forces looked to him for classic combat leadership.” Latta was the crew commander of a group of six Canadians who happened by chance to be at NATO headquarters when the insurgents launched an audacious surprise attack on the alliance’s heavily fortified main compound and the U.S. Embassy from a partially built 14-floor office tower. Eleven Afghan civilians including children, and five policemen died during what became a 20-hour firefight. Until Postmedia News asked about it, there had been no public acknowledgment of Canada’s part in the ferocious battle, which garnered global attention at the time. The counter-attack eventually involved Afghan attack helicopters and ended after a ground assault by Afghan forces ....
