Canadian Soldier Believed Killed By “Friendly Fire” In Afghanistan

His name was Kevin Megeney and he was serving his country when he died Tuesday.

His family says the 25-year-old reservist with the Canadian Armed Forces was killed in Afghanistan during what appears to be a friendly-fire incident.

Megeney had volunteered to fight in the war torn nation to help improve the lives of the poor native population. But something terrible happened when a bullet apparently went through his tent at his base in Kandahar.

The military has refused to call the incident ‘friendly fire’, referring to it as an accidental shooting instead.

Either way, a Nova Scotia family has lost a son and a beloved brother.

“He said that he was going to help people,” Lisa Megeney recalls in tears. “He wanted to turn things around, so the Afghans could live like we live…. He took so much pride in it.”

Her family’s nightmare began when they received a phone call telling them that the young soldier had been hit in the lung.  “He was yelling for someone to call his mother,” she was told.

But his wounds were too great and he succumbed to his injuries. His family is awaiting answers they fear they may never get.

“We are looking hard at this,” is all deputy commander of Task Force Afghanistan Col. Mike Cessford will say. “No further details are available at this time regarding the exact circumstances surrounding this accident, however, enemy action has been ruled out.”

Megeney joined the reserves when he was just 17, and made the military his career. He was a soldier who made war but thought only of peace. “He loved to make people laugh,” Lisa remembers about the charming red head.

His troop, 1 Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders, is a regiment that saw generations of the Megeney family enlist. He will be one of the few who won’t be coming home.

Megeney becomes the sixth Canadian killed by friendly fire since our mission began in 2002. He’s the 45th to fall in service to his country.

Canadian Casualties In Afghanistan

2007

March 6: Kevin Megeney a 25-year-old reservist with the 1 Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders dies in a friendly fire accident while sitting in his tent in Kandahar.

2006

Nov. 27: Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard, his battalion’s regimental sergeant major, and Cpl. Albert Storm, both of the Royal Canadian Regiment based in CFB Petawawa, killed when a suicide car bomber attacked their Bison armoured personnel carrier on the outskirts of Kandahar city.

Oct. 14: Sergeant Darcy Tedford and Private Blake Williamson were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade explosion in Panjwaii distict.

Oct. 7: Trooper Mark Wilson was killed when his armouored vehicle was hit by a roadside explosion in the Panjwaii distict.

Oct. 3: Sergeant Craig Gillam and Corporal Robert Mitchell of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, based in Petawawa, Ont., killed in series of mortar, rocket attacks.

Sept. 29: Pte. Josh Klukie, 23, was killed when he stepped on an insurgent’s explosive device while on foot patrol in Kandahar province.

Sept. 18: Private David Byers and Corporals Glen Arnold, Shane Keating, and Keith Morley killed in suicide bicycle bomb attack on foot patrol in Panjwaii.

Sept. 4: Pte. Mark Graham who was based at CFB Petawawa killed when two NATO planes accidentally strafed Canadian troops in the Panjwaii district. About 30 others wounded, five seriously.

Sept. 3: Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Pte. William Cushley and Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, all based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., killed in fighting in Panjwaii district.

Aug. 22: Cpl. David Braun, who was based at Shilo, Man., killed in a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar City.

Aug. 11: Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom, 23, of Comox, B.C., stationed with 1st Field Ambulance, based in Edmonton, killed in suicide attack.

Aug. 9: Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33, of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., killed by apparent accidental discharge of rifle.

Aug. 5: Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31, of Loyal Edmonton Regiment, killed when large truck collided head-on with his G-Wagon patrol vehicle.

Aug. 3: Cpl. Christopher Reid, 34, of 1st Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, killed by roadside bomb. Three other members of same battalion killed in rocket-propelled grenade attack by Taliban forces west of Kandahar: Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, 35, Cpl. Bryce Keller, 27, and Pte. Kevin Dallaire, 22.

July 22: Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and Cpl. Jason Warren, 29, of Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, based in Montreal, killed when car packed with explosives rammed their armoured vehicle.

July 9: Cpl. Anthony Boneca, 21, reservist from Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont., killed in firefight.

May 17: Capt. Nichola Goddard, artillery officer based in Shilo, Man., with 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, killed in Taliban ambush during battle in Panjwaii region. She was first Canadian woman to be killed in action while serving in combat role.

April 22: Cpl. Matthew Dinning of Richmond Hill, Ont., stationed with 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade in Petawawa, Ont., Bombardier Myles Mansell of Victoria, Lieut. William Turner of Toronto, stationed in Edmonton, and Cpl. Randy Payne, born in Lahr, Germany, stationed at CFB Wainright, Alta., all killed when their G-Wagon destroyed by roadside bomb near Gumbad.

March 29: Pte. Robert Costall of Edmonton, machine-gunner, killed in firefight with Taliban insurgents in Sangin district of Helmand province.

March 2: Cpl. Paul Davis of Bridgewater, N.S., and Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson of Grande Prairie, Alta., killed when their armoured vehicle ran off road in Kandahar area.

Jan. 15: Glyn Berry, British-born Canadian diplomat who had served with Foreign Affairs Department since 1977, killed in suicide bombing near Kandahar.

2005

Nov. 24: Pte. Braun Woodfield, born in Victoria and raised in Eastern Passage, N.S., killed when his armoured vehicle rolled over near Kandahar.

2004

Jan. 27: Cpl. Jamie Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., killed in suicide bombing while on patrol near Kabul.

2003

Oct. 2: Sgt. Robert Short, 42, of Fredericton, and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, 29, of Ottawa, killed in roadside bombing southwest of Kabul.

2002

April 17: Sgt. Marc Leger, 29, of Lancaster, Ont., Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24, of Montreal, Pte. Richard Green, 21, of Mill Cove, N.S., and Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, of Tatamagouche, N.S., all killed when U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed Canadians on pre-dawn training exercise. Eight other Canadians wounded in friendly-fire incident.