Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Pte. Aidan Goulding, and to everyone still grieving the four soldiers lost at CFB Wainwright in Alberta.
A Canadian flag hung between the ladders of two fire trucks near Vancouver International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.
Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and military veterans stood at attention under it. When the hearse carrying Pte. Aidan Goulding passed through, they saluted.
Goulding was 23 and from North Vancouver. On Oct. 17, he was one of four soldiers killed when a fast-moving grass fire overran troops during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright in Alberta.
On Nov. 4, after a flight from Calgary, he came back to B.C. A police motorcade escorted the hearse from the airport to a funeral home in New Westminster.
“A contagious laugh and a cheeky smile”
After high school, Goulding trained as a mechanic. He was making good money. He left anyway.
“Although he was making excellent money and had a good life, he decided he wanted to defend his country,” his family said.
He finished his occupational training in August and served as a private with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton. He wanted to get into special operations, and after that, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He was looking forward to a deployment in Latvia.
His mother, Sonia Monk, and his brother, Wylder Goulding, said he was the one who kept everyone going.
“He was the guy that kept people’s spirits up, a contagious laugh and a cheeky smile,” they said.
Before he left for basic training, he told them he had one life and planned to make the most of it. They said he loved the people he served with.
Among the first responders on Wednesday was Vancouver Police Sgt. Maj. Ray Gardner, a Canadian Armed Forces veteran. He offered his condolences to the family and said it mattered to recognize soldiers who die in service.
Goulding’s funeral is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8.
The same day, Prince Albert said goodbye
On the same Wednesday, Pte. Shaun Farrell was laid to rest in Saskatchewan.
Farrell, 23, was from Prince Albert. His funeral was held with full military honours at the Prince Albert Armoury and livestreamed for people who couldn’t be there. Two weeks earlier, police, firefighters, paramedics, RCMP and the Saskatchewan Marshals Service had escorted his remains from Saskatoon back to Prince Albert. Hundreds turned out, and residents held a vigil in front of city hall for all four soldiers.
Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, B.C., is expected to come home on Monday, Nov. 9. He was 10 months into his army career and wanted to become a police officer.
Read more: Hayden Lykkemark, 19, Remembered After Deadly CFB Wainwright Fire in Alberta
The four soldiers killed at CFB Wainwright in Alberta
Pte. Aidan Goulding, 23, North Vancouver, B.C.
Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, Langley, B.C.
Pte. Shaun Farrell, 23, Prince Albert, Sask.
Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, Edmonton
All four were serving with 3 PPCLI. Wong was a reservist with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment attached to the battalion. He’d served in Latvia, where he met his wife, Laura, and married her last December. His funeral was held in Edmonton on Oct. 25. Four friends he’d known since junior high have started a fundraiser for his father and his wife.
What happened at CFB Wainwright in Alberta
CFB Wainwright is the army’s main training base in east-central Alberta, about 210 km east of Edmonton. On Saturday, Oct. 17, soldiers from 3 PPCLI were in the middle of a live-fire exercise.
The military says a fire started during a routine training event. Just before 4 p.m., strong winds pushed it toward the area where soldiers were setting up. It crossed the base’s fire guard and kept going. Firefighters couldn’t go in, because the range is a danger zone for unexploded ordnance.
Four soldiers died. Thirty-nine were hurt.
Officials say there was no explosion. They haven’t said what started the fire.
Military police are investigating independently of the chain of command. A separate board of inquiry is looking at how it happened and what should change. Alberta’s Chief Medical Examiner is investigating the deaths. No findings have been announced.
Twenty-five soldiers still in hospital
As of Nov. 4, National Defence says 25 of the injured remain in hospital and 14 have been released. Four of those still in care have been moved to hospitals closer to their families in British Columbia and Ontario. The military didn’t say how many are in critical condition.
One of them is Pte. Trevor Flegel, 26, of Kitimat, B.C. His family says he has burns to about half his body and has been treated in an Edmonton ICU.
Remembrance Day is next week
Remembrance Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11. This year, four families will mark it for the first time without a son.
In Edmonton, 14-year-old Liam Herman walked 200 km across the city to raise money for the families. Fundraisers have also started in B.C. and Saskatchewan.
Goulding’s funeral is Sunday. Lykkemark is expected home Monday.
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