Canada’s top general is apologizing to the families of several soldiers killed in Afghanistan after a mix-up in a commemorative book produced to mark the end of the mission.
Gen. Tom Lawson, the chief of defence staff, is reaching out after a photo caption wrongly identified four soldiers as pallbearers carrying a flag-draped casket when in fact, they had been killed in the previous days in Afghanistan.
The mistake is contained in a book produced by the Defence Department that showcases 100 images illustrating aspects of Canada’s long engagement in Afghanistan. The purpose of the book was to “commemorate the work and sacrifice of the Canadian Armed Forces personnel,” department spokesperson Daniel Le Bouthillier told Torstar News Service.
One photo shows four soldiers carrying a casket of a fellow Canadian soldier to a waiting aircraft during a ramp ceremony at the Kandahar airfield on Sept. 5, 2006. The caption identifies the four soldiers as Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, Warrant Officer Richard Nolan, Sgt. Shane Stachnik and Pte. Mark Graham.
In fact, all four had been killed in the days leading up the ceremony. Nolan, Mellish and Stachnik were killed on Sept. 3, 2006 in a ground offensive; Graham died the following day in a friendly fire incident when a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft fired on a group of Canadian soldiers.
Le Bouthillier said the Defence Department and armed forces “sincerely apologize for the error.”
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The Defence Department produced about 800 copies of the book at a cost of about $25,000. About 600 of the books have been distributed so far, mostly to the families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan.