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Canadian Troops killed by US Pilot in Afghanistan

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<< If they would have been French I would have questioned if it was actually an accident or a good shot. >>



😀
 


<< If they would have been French I would have questioned if it was actually an accident or a good shot. >>



My first LOL of the day 🙂
 
As if you'd find any French anywhere near a battle zone unless they were being occupied by some Germans. 😉
 


<< And when I said "logout" I mean logout. Don't just close IE. Click the logout button THEN close IE. >>


That will be SOP from now on. Just didn't think anything about it when I said he coudl use my PC. Hell I let people use it all the time and stuff like this never happens.
 
A LITTLE HISTORY : The PPCLI was formed in 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War. Andrew Hamilton Gault, a Montreal businessman and captain in the Militia, offered the government $100,000 to raise a battalion for service in Europe. The government agreed to equip the soldiers and pay for transport to Britain. To speed up the enlistment process, volunteers were required to have previous military service with the British Empire. Reaction was very quick and the battalion was up to full strength on August 19, 1914; eight days after the first call for volunteers. All but 49 out of 1,098 officers and men that volunteered had previous military experience. The speed at which the Regiment formed allowed the PPCLI to be in Europe in 1914; long before other units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force arrived. The Regiment still proudly refers to itself as "the first in the field."


My regrets to the families and their countrymen.
 
A little more history ...

"This time the new unit, known as 2 PPCLI or the Second Battalion, did deploy to Korea after extensive training. In April 1951 2 PPCLI, with Australian and American units, held back a major Chinese offensive that had pushed through the UN lines and was heading for Seoul.

The battle in the Kapy'ong valley lasted 48 hours and was widely credited with saving Seoul and the allied effort. For "outstanding heroism and exceptionally meritorious conduct," (2 PPCLI had been cut-off and surrounded, yet continued to fight, receiving supplies dropped by air) the unit was awarded a United States Presidential Unit Citation, the only Canadian unit to ever receive one. In addition to a second battalion, a third was raised to keep the war effort going in Korea. 3 PPCLI served in Korea from 1952 until the end of the war in 1953. In-between 2 PPCLI and 3 PPCLI, the soldiers from 1 PPCLI also did their fair share. The Regiment earned two Battle Honours in Korea. "

Michael

 
Accidents in the military do happen despite massive training efforts to avoid them. While I was onboard an aircraft carrier during my time in the Navy we lost 2 aircraft during our deployment. One was an F4 that the pilot did what is called a "ramp strike". He sheared off the left main landing gear and a portion of the left wing from the fold spot out. Despite this he was able to keep the aircraft flying and we followed the standard proceedure for this and rigged a barricade net. When brought the plane in it went right through the barrier and off the deck. The pilot appeared to eject by the flashes observed yet we never found him. In another incident during the same deployment we had an A7 in the landing pattern about 10 miles off the ship just disappear. Once again we spent 3 days on site looking with no success.
 
Shinerburke - IMO your opology and explanantion should go along way toward restoring the damage that whoever it was has done for your name here.

I cannot believe that someone would poke fun when lives of our allies have been lost, especially when they died at the hand of our own bombs. I am sure that the Canadien forces serving under that name are proud to be listed as such, and for anyone to make fun of a name instead of being appreciative for what the serviceman and women who are willing to fight is unbelievable.

And contrary to someones post earlier I highly doubt that the U.S. stance will be "sh!t happens". The fact of the matter is that accidents do happen and sometimes they have a tragic ending as this one did. There is no possible way for the military to be perfect or anyone else for that matter. I have a sister and brother who are currently serving the U.S. armed forces and can only imagine the loss that the families of the 4 who died feel at this time. I for one am proud of all who are willing to risk their lives to maintain the freedoms that we have and enjoy on a daily basis.

Farmall -
 


<< I agree that it shouldn't have been said and also, am very grateful that Canada's willing to get up and fight alongside us, but don't think you're just helping us. >>

But we are. Why are the Brits or Aussies there as well? America and Great Britain have had a special relationship on backing each other up on every issue like this for decades; Australia and my country are obviously far smaller nations but we still try to hold up to that partnership and contribute where asked.

It's not about being led to the battlefield because of co-dependence; it's about being bound by the same values and morality - an attack on one nation with them is an attack on all of us. Likewise I am 100% positive that a country dropping a nuke on Toronto would be treated with the same ferocity as one that dropped a nuke on Houston or Chicago or Miami.

As for a list of the injured/KIA...

The four soldiers killed are:

Sgt. Marc Leger
Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer
Pte. Richard Green
Pte. Nathan Smith

The injured are listed as:

Sgt. Lorne Ford
Cpl. Ren&eacute; Paquet
Master Cpl. Curtis Hollister
Cpl. Brett Perry
Pte. Norman Link
Cpl. Shane Brennan
Master Cpl. Stanley Clark
Cpl. Brian Decaire

Link: CBC News.
 
Well? It all needs to be put into perspective. Americans deploy far more men and materiel in ?wartime? ? however unjustified this ?war? is (IMHO, US fighters should be bombing the sh*t out of Tel Aviv right now) so the ratio of accidents will be higher for US-deployed personnel. Americans have a track record of this and this is perhaps a result of over-reliance on unreliable technology ? after all, everything that the US Military (and most others) uses was made by the lowest bidder?

 
That's really sad indeed. Droping a bomb in an area known as a training zone for allies is not just dumb, it should be punished. And with the technology they have on the planes accidents like this should never happen. Only logic explanation is that the pilot just got scared from the shots on the ground and dropped a bomb without taking the time to actually verify his position and what forces were on the ground.
That reminds me of another accident that happened during the Yougoslavia bombings were an US missile hit a buiding nearby Sofia, Bulgaria (about 10km from were I live) - the building was totally destroyed, no casualties thanks god. US fighters were using our airspace during the war and it was the worst year in my life so far.
 


<< If they would have been French I would have questioned if it was actually an accident or a good shot.
>>



<< As if you'd find any French anywhere near a battle zone unless they were being occupied by some Germans. 😉 >>

Well, to be quite honest, I don't find that very funny either, considering that one of the four killed was French-Canadian.
 


<< This is getting rediculous. We drop heavy machinery on each other, blow ourselves up, and now bomb our allies. With all these fsck-ups Al Qaeda is going to wind up winning. >>



wind up winning and laughing his ass off...
 


<< That's really sad indeed. Droping a bomb in an area known as a training zone for allies is not just dumb, it should be punished. And with the technology they have on the planes accidents like this should never happen. Only logic explanation is that the pilot just got scared from the shots on the ground and dropped a bomb without taking the time to actually verify his position and what forces were on the ground.
That reminds me of another accident that happened during the Yougoslavia bombings were an US missile hit a buiding nearby Sofia, Bulgaria (about 10km from were I live) - the building was totally destroyed, no casualties thanks god. US fighters were using our airspace during the war and it was the worst year in my life so far. >>


It reminds me when the US destroyed the Chinese consulate because of "intelligence" they had gotten, despite it being clearly declared as a consulate even in the local phonebook. Appropriate measures should be taken to prevent these things from occuring in the future, but mistakes do happen, and at this point I don't think we're here necessarily to assign blame to anyone.
 
My condolence on this terrible mistake.

First off I would like to personally offer my apologies for some remarks my country-men have made. It saddens me that some people would make such remarks.

I hope the pilot who did this is stripped of his command IF not kicked out of the military. HE was told not to fire unless he felt threatened. Ok he may have been in the wrong area and it could be the machines fault. But why didn?t he just leave the area or make sure he could fire? Kick his ash out or charge him with murder for disobeying orders.


Any again I apologize for the rude comments. Not all US citizens feel that way.
 


<< Ok, first off let me apologize for the comments posted in this thread that offended everyone. I like many here like to poke fun at Canada from time to time but I would never make the comments that were in this thread. Last night I had a few people over to watch some videos, drink, and play pool/foosball in my newly completed game room. One of the guys, his name is Jason, asked to use my computer to check his email and browse the net for a while. I said ok and didn't think anything of it. Just a now I got on and was browsing ATOT and got a PM from someone telling me I was an A-hole, I responded that he was a jackass and didn't think anything of it since those sort of things occasionally happen. I then jumped into OT and started reading threads that looked interesting. I came across this thread and was horrified. The hatred directed towards the comments posted under my name are 100% justified as they were crass, uncaring, and something no decent human would ever say. I have friends I met in college that are Canadian, I have a friend(Rob Anders) who is a member of the House of Commons, and I also have several members of my family who are current or past members of the U.S. Armed Forces. I know the sacrifices that people who join the military make, I know the worry that the families of those people go through(my cousin in the USMC hasn't been heard from since late October. All we know is that he and his tank battalion are somewhere in the Middle East), and I can only imagine the pain that people who lose a loved one in military service must go through. Please accept my deepest apology and regret for the loss of your men's lives and the senseless comments that were posted here under my user name. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that this happened but it will not happen again and the person who did it WILL be dealt with. >>



Ah, the old "My friend borrowed my computer" excuse. Um.. Yeah. I for one don't buy it one bit, but whatever.
 


<< Ah, the old "My friend borrowed my computer" excuse. Um.. Yeah. I for one don't buy it one bit, but whatever >>


You can believe whatever you chose. I offered up a sincere apology and people can either chose to accept it or not. Those that know my type of normal posts can see that what was written in this thread using my name is not something I would say. Like I said in my apology, I have made fun of Canada from time to time but I would never take happiness from the fact that some of their military died while trying to help us rid the world of rat bastard terrorists.
 


<<

<< Ah, the old "My friend borrowed my computer" excuse. Um.. Yeah. I for one don't buy it one bit, but whatever >>


You can believe whatever you chose. I offered up a sincere apology and people can either chose to accept it or not. Those that know my type of normal posts can see that what was written in this thread using my name is not something I would say. Like I said in my apology, I have made fun of Canada from time to time but I would never take happiness from the fact that some of their military died while trying to help us rid the world of rat bastard terrorists. >>

I'll actually take your word for it - you haven't ever been the kind of poster who would make light of any military contribution. Sorry for kind of opening up the floodgates on you there.
 


<< I'll actually take your word for it - you haven't ever been the kind of poster who would make light of any military contribution. Sorry for kind of opening up the floodgates on you there >>


Thanks! No worries about opening the floodgates, it needed to be done. I'm going to email the guy who posted that crap all the comments that were made in the thread about what he said. The guy can be kind of a sarcastic ass(can't we all?) but I wouldn't imagine him saying something like what he posted here in real life. Who knows, maybe his head is farther up his ass than I thought.
 


<<

<< Ah, the old "My friend borrowed my computer" excuse. Um.. Yeah. I for one don't buy it one bit, but whatever >>


You can believe whatever you chose. I offered up a sincere apology and people can either chose to accept it or not. Those that know my type of normal posts can see that what was written in this thread using my name is not something I would say. Like I said in my apology, I have made fun of Canada from time to time but I would never take happiness from the fact that some of their military died while trying to help us rid the world of rat bastard terrorists. >>



Fair enough. We'll just leave it at that.
 


<< Well, to be quite honest, I don't find that very funny either, considering that one of the four killed was French-Canadian >>

Stick in the Mud..See Eug.

Hey Eug, next time we feel like making light of a sad situation should we ask you first to see if you approve?
 


<< It reminds me when the US destroyed the Chinese consulate because of "intelligence" they had gotten, despite it being clearly declared as a consulate even in the local phonebook. >>


Wait...so if you were a spy in a foreign country, would you want your listing in the local phonebook to read "Eug Johnson, Spy"?
 


<<

<< I'm sorry our unit names don't please you, a$$hole. We were a British colony for a long time, and we still hold strong ties to them. I'm sorry that you find our Royal names hilarious. You disgust me. Especially when your own pilot kills 4 of ours guys, there to help you, voluntarily. Then you laugh. Your sad...

I cannot put into words my sheer disgust. I tried, but words cannot show what I feel at that comment. >>


I agree that it shouldn't have been said and also, am very grateful that Canada's willing to get up and fight alongside us, but don't think you're just helping us.

If America goes down, Canada goes down, plain and simple...that's most of your trade gone and nearly all of your national defense.

Don't act like Canada's not getting something out of a tougher stance on terrorism >>




I wasn't intending to imply that. Nonetheless, our soldiers there are merely a show of support, the Americans could easily do this alone. Therefore, it is my opinion our attendance is purely optional.

P.S. Shinerburke, I'll take your word. Your clear in my book.
 
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