[加拿大新聞] Slain Canadian soldier Byron Greff had just become a dad soldier, become, killed, combat

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Slain Canadian soldier Byron Greff had just become a dad


Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/Slain+Canadian+soldier+Byron+Greff+just+become/5628966/story.html#ixzz1cHD0Hdu0

An Edmonton-based soldier killed Saturday in a suicide attack — the first casualty in Afghanistan since the end of Canada’s combat mission in July — recently became a father, his family says.
Master Cpl. Byron Greff of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, was killed in a bloody attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Sixteen others died when a car packed with explosives rammed an armoured bus.
Greff, who was in his mid- to late-20s, grew up in the Lacombe area north of Red Deer, Alta., where his parents still live, said his cousin, Brett. He had just become a father in the last few weeks, he said.
The family is heading to Edmonton to await Greff’s return, his cousin said. At this point, the extended family doesn’t know what happened beyond the basic details.
“It’s quite a shock,” said Greff. “We’re still waiting for phone calls from his parents. They’re not taking any phone calls or answering questions until they know what’s going on.”
He is the first Canadian to be killed since Canada ended its combat mission in Kandahar province at the end of July, when it launched its current training operation.
Col. Peter Dawe, deputy commander, Canadian Contribution Training Mission, said Greff’s role was to advise Afghan National Army trainers who provide recruit training to Afghan soldiers and was his second deployment to Afghanistan. In his spare time, he liked to hunt and play hockey, Dawe added.
“Master Cpl. Byron Greff was a hard-working infantry soldier, qualified paratrooper and member of the battalion’s reconnaissance platoon,” said Dawe. “To say that he was highly respected by his fellow soldiers would be an understatement.”

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A military spokesperson said the attack happened during “an administrative move” between two camps.

“Our Canadian Forces member was on a bus between two camps. He was being transferred from one camp to another,” said Lt.-Col. Chris Lemay, a Canadian military spokesperson.

“We are in contact with the family as we speak to support them in the best of our ability in this difficult time,” he added.

According to the International Security Assistance Force, 13 NATO personnel — including Greff and four foreign troops — were killed.

ISAF spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff said that eight other NATO members killed in the blast were civilian employees.

Three civilians, one Afghan policeman and a military service dog also died in the attack.


The hulking, boxy buses that the group were travelling in are a common sight in the Afghan capital.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising from an fire raging at the scene, cordoned off by Afghan and international soldiers, while fire hoses were putting out another blaze nearby.

NATO soldiers were seen carrying away the bodies of some of the victims on stretchers from the wreckage of the bombed bus.


The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, the latest chapter in a 10-year insurgency against foreign forces and the Western-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

U.S. officials had earlier said that 13 U.S. soldiers were killed in the bombing.

There are 950 Canadian troops participating in the training mission at bases in Kabul and in western Afghanistan. That operation is slated to end in the spring of 2014.

The attack was the deadliest for NATO since the death of 30 U.S. troops, whose helicopter was shot down in mid-August south of Kabul.


Also on Saturday, three Australian army trainers were killed when a man dressed in an Afghan army uniform turned his gun on them, NATO said, adding that the shooter was later killed.

The deadly attacks came a day after the Taliban launched a four-hour long assault on a U.S.-run civilian-military base in the southern city of Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the insurgent movement.


Since 2002, 158 Canadian soldiers, a Canadian diplomat and Canadian journalist Michelle Lang have died in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay both issued statements Saturday, expressing condolences to Greff’s family and friends.

“Master Corporal Greff paid the ultimate price serving his country,” said Harper. “His life and death serves as an example of the bravery and outstanding dedication of Canadian Armed Forces members on this mission.”=

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Master Corporal Byron Greff of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Alberta
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A NATO helicopter flies over the site of a bomb blast in Kabul Saturday. At least 14 people were killed when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of foreign soldiers in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday, officials said, with an unspecified number of NATO-led troops among other casualties.