To some, 17 years can seem like a lifetime ago. But to the parents of Pte. Rick Green and Pte. Nathan Smith, it seems like only yesterday that they received the terrible news that their sons had paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian Army.
Pte. Green and Pte. Smith were serving with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry during the very early stages of Canadian military involvement in the war against terrorism, which was ignited by the events of 9/11.
On April 17, 2002, while their unit was conducting a night firing exercise in an area referred to as Tarnak Farms on the outskirts of Kandahar, their actions were mistaken for hostile fire. A U.S. jet dropped a laser guided bomb, killing Pte. Rick Green, Pte. Nathan Smith, Sgt. Marc Leger and Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, and leaving eight other members wounded. These fatalities would be the first Canadians in the war in Afghanistan, and the first Canadian soldiers killed in combat since the Korean War.
Both Pte. Green and Pte. Smith are remembered at their respective schools. Each year students, staff, and family members gather to honour their fallen students by attaching a yellow ribbon to a tree adjacent to a monument built in their honour. Forest Heights Community School, attended by Pte. Green, and Eastern Shore District High School, where Pte. Smith had been a student, held simultaneous ceremonies this year. At Forest Heights, the grade 10 history teacher, Peter Straubel, spoke about his experience teaching Pte. Green and emphasized to the young students present the importance of what he did, and that his sacrifice should never be forgotten.
Dan Hennessey is an author, prostate cancer survivor, advocate and motivational speaker.
