Trooper Karine Blais - 12e Régiment blindé du Canada - 4 wounded in Afghanistan - Tues 14 Apr 2009

[Smirnoff123]

This is very sad.

Rest in piece and quick recoveries to the wounded.

 

[koopa]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iLEnILz5DeqYCK-rFcsPPww5XqOA

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

Ramp ceremony held for fallen Canadian soldier


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090414/afghan_death_090414/20090414?hub=TopStories

 

[wildman0101]

rest in peace tpr blais (salute)
you will not be forgotten (canadian flag)
speedy recovery to the wounded (yellow ribbon)
deepest condolences to family,comrades, and friends...(piper)
please excuse the brackets,,, my smiley's are'nt working.
                                scoty b

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Fallen soldier's casket begins journey to Canada
Last Updated: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 8:03 PM ET
CBC News

Canadian soldiers carry the coffin of Trooper Karine Blais on the Kandahar Airfield on Tuesday. (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Tearful soldiers carried the casket of Trooper Karine Blais onto a waiting plane at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday during a solemn ramp ceremony honouring a woman described as "full of energy" and "friendly to everyone."

Blais, 21, was killed Monday when the armoured vehicle she was in hit a roadside bomb north of the city of Kandahar.

At the ceremony on Tuesday, bagpipe music played as 2,400 soldiers — some weeping openly — lined the tarmac to salute Blais's casket, which is being flown back to Canada.

"We will remember Karine as a woman who loved to smile, who was full of energy and who was very friendly to everyone around her," Padre Martine Bélanger, a Catholic lay chaplain, said during the ceremony.

Blais, who had only been in Afghanistan for two weeks, was the second female Canadian soldier to be killed in the war-torn country. Her death comes nearly three years after Capt. Nicola Goddard was killed in a grenade attack west of Kandahar.

Trooper Karine Blais died Monday when the vehicle she was riding in struck an improvised explosive device in Kandahar's Shah Wali Kot district. (Canadian Forces Combat Camera/DND)

Blais was from the 12th Armoured Regiment of Canada based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Quebec, but she was serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment Battle Group, also based in Valcartier.

She grew up in the small town of Les Méchins on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, where she spent her teen years babysitting and working at a convenience store and restaurant.

A statement released by her family on Tuesday said she often asked her mother if she was proud of her.

"To answer your question, yes, we are always proud of you, despite the sadness that has enveloped us," the statement said.

"In our eyes, you were a soldier who displayed dynamic leadership and who was dedicated to your regiment. You loved your job in the military and you were very proud of yourself … You are our ray of sunshine and you will always be in our hearts. Your sense of humour and your vivacity will remain forever in our memories."

Blais leaves behind her mother, Josée, her grandmother, Laurette, and her brother, Billy. She also had a partner named Hugo who she lovingly called Kermit.

Before the ramp ceremony began, Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said Blais believed in her role in Afghanistan and was dedicated to the mission.

"She was an energetic soldier who gave 100 per cent to every challenge she faced," he said. "Frank and direct, she demonstrated the qualities of a future leader who was respected by all members of her squadron."

Her death brings the total of Canadian soldiers killed to 117 since Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. One Canadian diplomat and two Canadian aid workers have also been killed in Afghanistan.

With files from the Canadian Press

 

[M Feetham]

Fair winds and following seas. :yellow:

 

[leroi]

A little more about trooper Karine Blais with a short video of the ramp ceremony:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/618570

For the Fallen and for Trooper Blais:

"The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
    But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
    A heart whose love is innocent." :yellow:

God Bless and protect our troops, our injured, their families, friends and Regiments.

Rest in peace, Trooper Blais.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Media Advisory
Our Fallen Soldier Returns Home
LFCA MA 09-07 - April 15, 2009

OTTAWA – Our fallen soldier, Trooper Karine Blais, from 12e Régiment Blindé du Canada based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Quebec, will return home to Canada on Thursday, April 16, 2009.

Where:  8 Wing, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.
When:  Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.
What:    At the wishes of the family, media will not be permitted on the tarmac.

Present to pay their respects will be Her Excellency The Governor General of Canada, The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Minister of National Defence, The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Chief of Defence Staff, General Walt Natynczyk and other dignitaries.

Trooper Blais was killed and four others were injured when their armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device north of Kandahar City in the Shah Wali Kowt District. The incident occurred at approximately 5:00 p.m., Kandahar time, on April 13, 2009. Trooper Blais was a member of 12e Régiment Blindé du Canada based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Quebec, serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group.

-30-

Note to Editors/News Directors:
Interested media may contact Captain Mark Peebles, 8 Wing/CFB Trenton Public Affairs Officer, who can be reached at (613) 392-2811, ext. 2041, or at: peebles.m@forces.gc.ca

For general queries, please contact the Media Liaison Office at (866) 377-0811, or on weekends 613-792-2973. For flight information, please contact the Air Passenger Terminal at 1-800-487-1186.

 

[mariomike]

From Toronto EMS:
The cortege is anticipated to repatriate the remains of Trooper Blais arriving at the Toronto boundary at approximately 16h15 - 17h00.
Paramedics will join members of the Canadian Forces, Toronto Police and Toronto Fire Services at the Coroner's Office, to form an honour guard as the repatriation terminates.

 

[gun runner]

Rest in peace trooper, end of mission. a speedy recovery to the wounded, and my deepest sympathies to the Regiment, families and friends of all in this tragic accident. Ubique

 

[steph_3007]

RIP trooper Blais.
Speedy recovery to the injured.
:yellow:

 

[The Dunnminator]

She comes form the same place as me, her nam didn't tell me anything but looking at the pictures I remembered that I went to school with her (she was a year older). Ironic that I didn't learn she was a fellow cf member until she died. Anyway, R.I.P Karine

 

[R933ex]

R.I.P Trooper 

 

[R. Jorgensen]

R.I.P. Trooper 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Mentioned in the House of Commons yesterday (Hansard link here):

Mr. Jean-Yves Roy (Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ):
    Mr. Speaker, all of Quebec, and especially the Gaspé, was in mourning last Monday, when one of our own was killed on mission in Afghanistan.

    Trooper Karine Blais, just 21 years old and from Les Méchins in my riding, was tragically killed when the vehicle she was travelling in hit an improvised explosive device. Karine is the first female soldier from Quebec to be killed since the soldiers of the Royal 22nd Regiment from Valcartier began their second six-month rotation in Afghanistan.

    I would like to pay tribute to her and express my deepest sympathies to her grieving family and to all her fellow soldiers.

    This tragic situation once again reminds us of the tremendous danger faced by our soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. We hope that Karine's sacrifice and that of all the soldiers who have fallen before her in the effort to restore peace, social justice and democracy in that country are not in vain.

 

[FastEddy]

[/quote]


Rest in Peace, Brave Soldier.