B.C. soldier killed in Afghanistan
Master Cpl. Erin Doyle was killed Monday during a brief attack by insurgents
Graham Thomson and Jason Hewlett, Canwest News Service and Kamloops Daily News
Published: Monday, August 11, 2008
B.C. - The Afghanistan conflict has claimed another Canadian life, this time an Edmonton-based soldier who grew up in Kamloops.
Master Cpl. Erin Doyle was killed Monday during a brief attack by insurgents against a Canadian combat outpost in the middle of Taliban territory.
Doyle was serving with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. A second, unidentified, soldier was wounded during the attack and was reported to be in good condition.
Doyle's stepfather, Bob Mitchell, said he and Doyle's mother, Kathy Mitchell, were notified of their son's death in a phone call from Doyle's wife, Nicole, at 1 a.m. Monday.
"It is pretty devastating," Mitchell said.
Doyle, who leaves behind his wife and a daughter, Zarine, was on his third combat tour in Afghanistan and was remembered by his grieving comrades as physically imposing but gentle in nature, earning him the nickname the "Friendly Giant."
Mitchell said family members had their fingers crossed that Doyle would return safe from this tour, as he had the previous two.
Doyle is the second B.C. native to die in Afghanistan in just over two months. Capt. Jonathan Sutherland Snyder, 26, a Penticton native and also with Princess Patricia's in Edmonton, died June 27 when he fell into a deep well while on foot patrol.
Doyle "was a big tough mountain of a man who enjoyed the outdoors," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Afghanistan. "He was a true warrior and just the person you would want beside you in a firefight."
He was killed when half a dozen Taliban fighters fired a few shots at the outpost, as they do on an almost daily basis, before retreating.
"What they tend to do is fire a few harassing rounds and then they'll disappear into the woodwork," said Thompson. "The combat outpost was engaged in a classic shoot-and-scoot fashion and unfortunately Master Cpl. Doyle was killed by a direct hit on the outpost."
Doyle is the youngest of five children. He graduated from Westsyde secondary in Kamloops and took a heavy-duty mechanics course at the University College of the Cariboo, now Thompson Rivers University.
He craved excitement and joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers, where he met Nicole. The couple eventually moved to Edmonton and became full-time soldiers.
Doyle did one tour in Bosnia prior to his deployment to Afghanistan. Kamloops MP Betty Hinton presented him with a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for community service in 2002.
In 2000, Doyle delivered 14 backpacks loaded with school supplies to a small village in central Bosnia. The supplies were collected by students at John Tod elementary, where Doyle's mom was a secretary at the time.
Regimental commander Lt. Col. Ken Jyrkkanen took command of the rangers after Doyle's involvement. He said the death was a blow to the regiment.
"He was a ranger. That really hits close to home."
Thompson acknowledged Doyle was posted in a dangerous area.
"They're in combat outposts because these are difficult areas where the insurgents have a reasonable grip," he said, adding that there is no thought to shutting down the outposts just because they're a target.
"The only other option is, you leave the population completely uncovered and you leave them completely at the mercy of the Taliban, and that's not what we're here to do. We're here to bring security to the people."
Chief Warrant Officer Chris White said Doyle "was quite intimidating to look at him but he had a good sense of humour."
Tears welling in his eyes, White remembered Doyle as a good-natured friend who once volunteered to be the Santa Claus at a children's Christmas party. However, even with a beard and costume, the physically imposing soldier "scared more kids than he cheered up," said White with a smile.
White said Doyle was "the kind of guy you'd like to sit down and have a beer with."
...
© Canwest News Service and Kamloops Daily News