The usual fair dealings
Fallen soldier handed out candies to Afghan kids: mom
By TAMARA KING
CLEARWATER, Man. (CP) - The mother of a soldier recently killed in Afghanistan beseeched Canadians on the day of her son's funeral to support the country's troops in Afghanistan.
Shortly before an honour guard piped the flag-draped coffin of Pte. Lane Watkins into an open field, his mother Wanda read a family statement that suggested people should be extremely proud of the military's efforts in a country that desperately needs Canada's help.
"We don't want any family to experience the terrible pain of losing their son or daughter, but if Canada and NATO abandon the Afghan people, the sacrifices Lane, our family and others have made will be for nothing," Watkins said Monday.
"They deserve your respect. In supporting them, you'll make our loss much easier to bear."
Watkins said her family was much like many others before her son joined the army two years ago - they had had little contact with the military and their knowledge of Afghanistan was limited.
"But you become a whole lot more attentive when your child is being deployed. We've come to know many of Lane's instructors and military friends and they are the finest young men that you will ever meet," she said.
"Every Canadian should be extremely proud of our soldiers. They're well-trained and we can trust them."
She also said her son was appalled by the poverty and plight of the children in Kandahar.
That concern was evident in his actions in Afghanistan, where he used to share the goodies he was sent from home with local children, padre Capt. Darren Persaud told hundreds of mourners sitting in lawn chairs or huddled under a tent for the funeral.
The 20-year-old private loved nothing more than to hand out candies to the kids he encountered while he was on duty, Persaud said during the open-air service in the soldier's southern Manitoba hometown of Clearwater.
Persaud also told the mourners that Watkins often played baseball in the field where they had gathered and one of the most treasured items he carried around in his rucksack overseas was his baseball glove.
Watkins, a member of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Edmonton, was also remembered as a proud and ambitious soldier - one who wanted to become a paratrooper someday.
He died July 4 along with five comrades when a powerful roadside bomb exploded as they were returning from a mission near Kandahar. Cpl. Jordan Anderson, Capt. Matthew Dawe, Cpl. Cole Bartsch, Capt. Jefferson Francis and Master Cpl. Colin Bason were also killed in the blast.
In the days after his death, Watkins was characterized as sometimes being shy, but well-liked by everybody who met him.
Lynn Galbraith, who taught Watkins at Pilot Mound Collegiate high school, said he always wanted to join the military once he graduated.
Sixty-six soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since the Canadian military first deployed to the country in 2002.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/2007/07/16/4344167-cp.html
