Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Just as the last Canadian
soldiers deployed in Afghanistan returned home today, news emerged that
two soldiers took their own lives.
Cpl. Alain Lacasse, 44(photo), was found dead in his home Monday afternoon in Valcartier, Que.
Police said that because Lacasse’s death was a suicide, they are not giving out any details about what took place.
- Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) also confirmed that
another soldier in Ontario, Master Cpl. Tyson Washburn, was found dead
over the weekend.
- Washburn, who was from The 1st Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment in Pembroke, Ont. died on Saturday, March 15.
- Officials are not releasing any details, but CBC News has learned that Washburn appears to have taken his own life.
- “The death did not take place on DND property and is currently under
investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. As such, it is
inappropriate for us to comment on the investigation,” DND Spokesman
Daniel Le Bouthillier said in a statement.
- Officials say Washburn, who joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2006
as a cook, had one deployment in Afghanistan between July to October
2010.
- Meanwhile Lacasse, who was a member of the Third Battalion of the 22nd Royal Regiment — also known as the Van Doos — served tours of duty in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
- Cpl. Lacasse’s last deployment was in Afghanistan
from July 2007 to February 2008, where he was stationed near Kandahar to
take part in patrols.
- According to reports, Lacasse
encountered some close calls. Just a few days before the end of his
mission, Lacasse was riding in a vehicle when a suicide bomber jumped in
front of the car.
- The vehicle exploded, but no one was injured.
Spouses of military personnel are calling on the federal government
to offer more support to soldiers upon their return from a tour of duty
abroad.
“I ask myself what it will take for people in Ottawa to wake up … the
soldiers really need help. We must stop hiding it,” said Marie-Josée
Huard, president of the Association of Canadian Military Spouses.
Source: CBC
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Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Defence officials confirmed Tuesday that military police are
investigating the death of a member of the Royal 22e Regiment at CFB
Valcartier in Quebec as the fourth apparent Canadian Forces suicide in a
week.
The Canadian military had already said it would be investigating the
suicides of three veterans from the war in Afghanistan in less than one
week.
Last Wednesday, the body of Warrant Officer Michael McNeil was found
at CFB Petawawa. A day earlier, Master Corporal William Elliott 
died at
his home near CFB Shilo in southwestern Manitoba.
Master Bombardier Travis Halmrast died in a Lethbridge, Alta., hospital after a suicide attempt in a jail.
Reports of this latest apparent suicide come as Liberal Senator Romeo Dallaire (photo), arguably Canada's highest-profile military victim of 
post-traumatic stress, nodded off at the wheel and crashed into a traffic barrier on Parliament.
The retired general later admitted that the news last week that three Canadian soldiers had killed themselves, coupled with the coming 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, have left him unable to sleep, even with medication.
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson implored those who are struggling to seek help.
"My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who have been affected by these recent suicides", he said in a statement.
"We all have a role to play in reaching out to those who are hurting
and encourage them to get help.
I want to remind those may be going
through difficult times that you are not alone and there is support
available to get you through this", he concluded.
Figures released by National Defence last summer reported that 22
full-time members took their own lives in 2011.
The numbers for 2012
have not been made public.
Some have questioned the data because the figures apply only to
regular force members, excluding reservists whose part-time designation
means they fall under the jurisdiction of civilian agencies in their
home provinces.
Source: CBC
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