RCMP officers killed in Haiti will receive heroes’ welcome
Posted Jan 22, 2010 05:44:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The commissioner of the RCMP will join Mounties from across the Maritimes at CFB Trenton this afternoon for the repatriation of two officers killed in Haiti.
Supt. Doug Coates and Sgt. Mark Gallagher were in Haiti to mentor police officers when the quake hit.
Gallagher served his entire career in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and several of his colleagues will travel to Trenton today.
An emotional Sgt. Terry Kennedy, who has known Gallagher for more than 20 years, tells Global he’ll pay his final respects to Gallagher and his family as part of the honour guard.
“That’s probably just a very small thing that I can do for Mark, Lisa, Shane and Heather,” he said. “So the honour is mine, but it’s a very tiny part because he’s done so much for me.”
From the base in Trenton, hearses carrying the two officers’ caskets will proceed to Toronto along what has become known as the Highway of Heroes. Typically, the procession of hearses carries the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, and Canadians lined the stretch of highway, waving flags from bridges as a mark of respect.
Kennedy says Gallagher deserves no less.
“He definitely deserves the drive down the Highway of Heroes, becuase he was definitely a local hero,” he said. “He did the kindest thing every day without being asked.”
Gallagher’s family has requested a regimental funeral, which will be held in Woodstock, N.B. No date has been set.
