Journalist & Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Laid To Rest
Posted January 11, 2010 8:28 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Canadian soldier and a journalist who were among the five people killed in Afghanistan late last month were laid to rest on Monday.
Friends and family of Sgt. Kirk Taylor, 28, paid their final respects in the soldier’s hometown of Yarmouth, N.S. Michelle Lang, the 34-year-old reporter for the Calgary Herald, was laid to rest in her hometown of Vancouver.
Taylor and Lang were killed Dec. 30 in Kandahar City when the vehicle they were riding on hit an improvised explosive device. Sgt. George Miok, 28, Cpl. Zachery McCormack, 21, and Pte.Garrett Chidley, 21, were also killed in the explosion.
The deaths represented Canada’s worst single-day loss of life in Afghanistan in two and a half years.
Childley will be laid to rest Tuesday in Vancouver and funerals for Miok and McCormack were held Saturday.
Taylor has been described by friends as a man with a “calm demeanour” who was eager to serve in Afghanistan. He served with the 84th Independent Field Battery. Thousands showed up to pay their final respects to a man who spend his time away from the military working at non-profit agency in Yarmouth that supported people with disabilities.
Lang was in Afghanistan on a six-week assignment for the Herald when she was killed during her first trip outside the wire, away from the safety of the Kandahar Airfield. She had been looking forward to her upcoming wedding next summer.
She was the first Canadian journalist to die in Afghanistan.
Lang began her journalism career in Prince George, B.C. and had been working in Calgary for the past six years. Her funeral will be held at Vancouver’s Italian Cultural Centre.
Since 2002, 138 Canadian soldiers and two civilians have died during the mission in Afghanistan.
With files from the Canadian Press
