I would never presume to guess or interpret what words may have passed between Cpl Boneca and his loved ones here in Thunder Bay, or elsewhere. Nor would I presume to speculate what this remarkable young man may have been thinking or feeling through his final weeks and days. The closest I can come to the latter is my own feelings, in my last few weeks in Bosnia; that was nowhere near as dangerous a theatre as Afghanistan when I was there, yet I know that I was heartily sick of the place and wanted nothing more than to come home. I think it is only reasonable that Cpl Boneca, along with almost all of his comrades in arms currently deployed in Afghanistan would feel the same way at this late date in their deployment, only much more so, given the conditions in that poor, war-battered country.
That all said, none of it takes away the point I made a day or so ago on this forum...knowing Cpl Boneca as well as I do, I have no doubt whatsoever that he applied himself fully and well to the job he had to do, no matter what his feelings may have been. That, I believe, is the mark of a true professional--doing your job, and doing it well, when it may very well be the LAST thing you want to do. I spent enough time with Cpl Boneca to know that this was the type of person he was. None of what has appeared in the media will change, one iota, my respect, admiration and fondness for this courageous young soldier.
Dave Laderoute
LCol
CO LSSR 2001-2004