Last week we heard of the 44th Canadian to die in Afghanistan ... today his body has returned home to Nova Scotia ... Meanwhile in Eastern Ontario, a decorated Soldier finds himself the victim of a drunken bar brawl:
Less than a month ago Cpl Collin Fitzgerald was awarded the Canadian Medal of Military Valour for for outstanding selfless and valiant actions" carried out on May 24, 2006, during an enemy ambush "involving intense, accurate enemy fire." Then this past weekend, home from combat he heads out to a local bar to hoist a few (a few he has no doubt earned), only to be cranked in the back of the head by a yahoo who apparently said, "what kind of hero are you now??"The supect in this is entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence ... but looking at Corporal Fitzgerald's face and hearing his interviews I can't help but wonder what kind of world we've created for ourselves???
Fitzgerald has faced, and survived combat only to get pasted in a bar back home - NICE.
This is simply and utterly embarassing ... I am not a supporter of the war in Afghanistan, yet I know our soldiers deserve NOTHING LESS THAN RESPECT.
They've risked thier lives ... 44 of them have paid with their lives ... and dozens more, including a fine young man in our community have paid the toll of mounting casualties ... these men and women, whether we support the war or not, deserve our respect.
And they are entitled to better treatment than Corporal Fitzgerald has recieved ... there is no justification for this, even if Fitzgerald was a beligerent drunk ...
Otherwise, his willingness to sacrfice and the deaths of 44 others has been totally in vain ...
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