Stephen Harper's illegal and unwinnable war claims its 121st Canadian victim
Auld Bob
Canadian soldier dies in Afghanistan
Jul 04, 2009 04:30 AM
Nick Aveling
Raveena aulakh
Staff Reporters
Until the very end, it seemed, Cpl. Nick Bulger was indestructible.
"We have had a few mishaps here but all in all I'm doing OK," he wrote
in a June 30 email to family friend Darlene Loucks. "Tell my ma that
I'm OK and she raised a tough cookie and it's gonna take more than
this to break me lol. I'll be able to share ... my experiences when I
get back there at the end of July."
Bulger died yesterday when his armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb
in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. The explosion hurt five others,
and narrowly missed Canadian Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, a senior
commander of coalition forces in the area.
Vance said yesterday that Bulger was a "passionate" soldier, destined
for leadership training. The 30-year-old father of two had already
carved out a special place among his peers, working with Loucks to
distribute packages from Canada to soldiers in the field.
"We raise money to send stuff the fellas might need – sunscreen, aloe
vera lotion, wipes – and a lot of times we send them CDs and novels,"
said Loucks, who started the project in 2005. "Nick happened to be one
of our local boys, so he was our chosen one to distribute."
It was a job Bulger took seriously.
Hold off on the CDs, said his email – most of the guys have MP3
players. And we could really use some razors and portable soap dishes.
"But everything else is PERFECT!!!!" he wrote.
A recent Canada Day interview with Bulger on CBC News highlighted his
hope for Afghanistan's future.
"Especially when we're driving down the streets in the rural areas, to
look down into the eyes of the children that are there, you get a
different perspective," he said Wednesday. "All you see is the war and
the destruction and stuff like that, but then when you see those kids
running through the streets without a care in the world ... being here
makes a huge difference."
Dozens of family members and friends gathered yesterday at Bulger's
childhood home in Buckhorn, Ont., north of Peterborough.
His mother, Kathleen, said she was contacted yesterday morning by
military officials, who called her to say Bulger was injured. She
heard from them again about 10 minutes later – after the news had
taken a turn for the worse.
"I felt like my heart had been ripped out," she said last night.
Though inconsolable, she insisted "everyone should know how proud he
was to be a Canadian soldier and how much he loved his work."
"That's how I want him to be remembered," she said.
Bulger's younger sister, Jessica, remembered him as a dedicated
husband and father. His wife, Rebeka, and daughters Brookelyn, 4, and
Elizabeth, 2, were the light of his life, said the 21-year-old. "He
called the girls his little angels," she said.
Bulger, who last lived in Edmonton, also leaves behind two younger
brothers. He joined the military in 2000, before finding work in the
Alberta oilfields in 2003. Shortly thereafter, he married Rebeka, and
joined the military for a second time in early 2008. Bulger was
serving his first tour in Afghanistan.
He was supposed to come home on leave in July, said Kathleen, reciting
the last words from a son to his mother, left on her answering machine
Thursday night.
"Just 27 days left, mom, and I'll be home. Don't worry, I'm safe. See
you soon."
With files from The Canadian Press