Sad day to be a news anchor
Today will see five deceased Canadians repatriated at CFB Trenton
It’s an emotional day for the Canadian news anchor.
Even the toughened shell of veteran reporters surely must feel the sting of having lost four Canadian soldiers and Canada’s first journalist in Afghanistan on December 30th.
Because Canadian Forces Base Trenton is the country’s largest, and is geographically close to Toronto, most of the repatriation ceremonies from our fallen in Afghanistan have happened right here in Quinte. It means there were local stories to tell today, as well as the one with national relevance.
One of our local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion organizes a shuttle bus to the repat ceremonies, a bus sponsored by a local company, and we often air that story. And because highway 401, now commonly called the Highway of Heroes, runs through my listening area (from Trenton, westward to Toronto), our local provincial police detachments today issued a reminder to motorists that stopping on a major highway to pay your respects is actually unsafe. They’re asking you to pull off the highway to a safe location before stopping and getting out.
My thoughts today are also with the devoted citizens who line the highway overpasses whenever a caravan travels through their part of southern Ontario. This tradition, said to have been started at the encouragement of the Cobourg radio station where I used to work, sees scores of people draping flags and standing at attention each and every time a fallen soldier is repatriated. With this morning’s temperatures of minus 27 with the windchill, those people show their own bravery for their cause.
It’ll be a dreadful afternoon for those mourning families on the frigid airfield at CFB Trenton. Many of us have you in our thoughts today.
