Another loss in Afghanistan

Very sad. Our troops are fighting a difficult and capable enemy.

GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail

KABUL — A Canadian soldier who saved a comrade's life after a bomb attack two years ago was himself killed by a similar bomb yesterday, during a patrol at an undisclosed location in the Panjwai district west of Kandahar city.

Sergeant Prescott Shipway, 36, was remembered for his gallant actions under fire during a Taliban attack on his previous tour in Afghanistan, as the Canadian military mourned its 97th death of the mission.

The improvised explosive device that killed him detonated at 12:30 p.m. local time. Little more information was released, but Brigadier-General Denis Thompson offered some detail about another blast, on June 21, 2006, when one of the sergeant's colleagues had his legs blown off.

"Disregarding the danger to himself, he [Sgt. Shipway] secured the area of the blast and began treating the casualties, one of which had lost both his legs," Brig.-Gen. Thompson said. "Using the radio, he got some direction from the chief surgeon and was able to stop the bleeding and save the soldier's life.

"As a measure of how Kandahar has grown more violent, the day of Sgt. Shipway's life-saving actions in 2006 was considered - at the time - one of the worst single 24-hour periods of violence since the arrival of Canada's battle group in southern Afghanistan. No troops were killed that day, but six injuries were enough to make headlines.

Full story here:

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James Morton
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