Afghanistan/Kanada — Statement by the Minister of National Defence on the fallen soldiers

State­ment by the Min­is­ter of Nation­al Defence on the death of two Cana­di­an sol­diers in Afghanistan
OTTAWA — The Hon­ourable Peter MacK­ay, Min­is­ter of Nation­al Defence, issued the fol­low­ing state­ment today on the deaths of two Cana­di­an sol­diers in Afghanistan:

“We grieve the loss of Mas­ter Cor­po­ral Kristal Giese­brecht and Pri­vate Andrew Miller who died yes­ter­day in Afghanistan. These sol­diers were killed by an impro­vised explo­sive device while on patrol in South­ern Kan­da­har. This is a trag­ic loss for Cana­da and for the Cana­di­an Forces. 

My heart­felt sym­pa­thies are with the fam­i­lies and loved ones of these brave sol­diers, who should be proud of the self­less sac­ri­fice made by Mas­ter Cor­po­ral Kristal Giese­brecht and Pri­vate Andrew Miller. 

Mas­ter Cor­po­ral Kristal Giese­brecht and Pri­vate Andrew Miller gave their lives help­ing to cre­ate the secure con­di­tions need­ed for recon­struc­tion efforts and con­tin­ued progress in Afghanistan. 

Canada’s par­tic­i­pa­tion in this Unit­ed Nations-man­dat­ed, NATO-led mis­sion is a true reflec­tion of our val­ues. We will not deter from help­ing those in need. Afghans are re-build­ing their coun­try and their com­mu­ni­ties, liv­ing con­di­tions are improving. 

I join with Cana­di­ans, and the Gov­ern­ment of Cana­da, in sup­port­ing our troops who are help­ing cre­ate a bet­ter future for the Afghan peo­ple. We will hon­our the sac­ri­fice of these brave sol­diers by con­tin­u­ing our efforts to build a safe and secure Afghanistan.” 

Source:
Depart­ment of Nation­al Defence, Kanada