I live in the City of Quinte West, Ontario, home to CFB Trenton, the largest air force base in Canada. Like any other city or town in Canada that is home to a Canadian Armed Forces base, the men and women who work at CFB Trenton are respected throughout the community for the services they provide.

CFB Trenton is also the base where all our fallen soldiers from Afghanistan are repatriated to. From here they are taken for their final journey home. 

There have been several repatriation ceremonies here at Trenton and they definitely do not get any easier. Today was one of those ceremonies when the bodies of our latest fallen soldiers were returned to Canadian soil. This past Wednesday 6 soldiers, along with an Afghan interpretor, were killed when the Nyala armoured vehicle in which they were travelling hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. So today at approx. 5 pm the bodies of Capt. Jefferson Francis, 36, Capt. Matthew Dawe, 27, Master Cpl Colin Bason, 28, Cpl Cole Bartsch, 23, Cpl Jordan Anderson, 25, and Pvt Lane Watkins, 20 arrived home. 

I have witnessed the last 2 ceremonies. It is amazing to see the turnout of people, many wearing red in support of our troops. It is extremely emotional and my heart and prayers go out to the families of these brave soldiers. I do not know if I could do what these men and women face each and everyday when they are in Afghanistan but I truly admire their commitment and service to our country.