KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Trooper Larry Rudd of the Royal Canadian Dragoons — who was described Monday as "a Gentle Giant" — became the 146th Canadian to die in Afghanistan and the fourth from southern Ontario to be killed here this month.
The Brantford, Ont., native, whose squadron was in the first weeks of its seven month tour in Afghanistan, died early Monday afternoon when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in struck a makeshift landmine during a combat resupply of other Canadian troops in Panjwaii District — southwest of Kandahar City.
"Trooper Rudd will be remembered by those who served alongside him as a professional soldier who never complained regardless of the hardships he and his crew endured," Col, Simon Hetherington, deputy commander of Canada's Task Force Kandahar, said.
"He was dynamic and motivated; generous and outgoing. He was the type of man soldiers of all ranks would look to for friendship."
The three other Canadian soldiers who died in May include:
- Col. Geoff Parker of the Royal Canadian Regiment, an Oakville, Ont., native who died when the convoy he was in was hit by a suicide car bomber in Kabul;
- Pte. Kevin Thomas McKay of Richmond Hill, Ont., who was killed while on foot with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during a presence patrol in Panjwaii two days before he was slated to leave Afghanistan; and
- Petty Officer Second Class Craig Blake of Simcoe, Ont., a explosives expert who was also killed on a foot patrol in Panjwaii.
Rudd, 26, was "big, strong and fit," Hetherington said.
He added Rudd was "mature well beyond his rank and demonstrated enormous potential within the Armoured Corps and certainly within the regiment."
The bulk of Canada's combat forces are now concentrated in Panjwaii, which senior NATO officers have often said is one of the most volatile areas in Kandahar and a key to rolling back the Taliban across their heartland in the south.
With Rudd's death, eight Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year. A total of 32 Canadians died in Afghanistan last year and in 2008. The worst year for Canadian casualties was 2006, when 36 soldiers died.
More than two-thirds of the Canadians who have been killed drove or walked over improvised explosive devices that had been buried in the sand by insurgents. Relatively few of the Canadians who have died were killed in direct combat with the enemy.
Canadian Diplomat Glyn Berry was killed by a suicide bomber in 2006 and journalist Michelle Lang of the Calgary Herald died when the vehicle she was in struck an IED on December 30, 2009. Both Berry and Lang were travelling with Canadian troops when they died.
The number of NATO troops who died in Afghanistan leaped from 295 in 2008 to 530 last year as the war accelerated, largely owing to the Taliban having laid more IEDs that have often been packed with much bigger and more powerful explosives.
Canada has nearly 3,000 troops in Afghanistan and South Asia. Its combat mission is slated to end next summer. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that all Canadians troops will leave the country by the end of next year. However, talks are ongoing with NATO about whether a smaller number of Canadians might participate in a new, much less risky mission that would begin next year.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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