COLUMN: REMEMBERING CHAD O’QUINN, ‘A MAN OF FAITH’ - KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN WITH TWO OTHER SOLDIERS IN MARCH 2009
It’s been just over 15 years since the Taliban robbed Chad O’Quinn of a promising life.
The former Oromocto, New Brunswick, high school student died March 3, 2009, along with two other soldiers, after an improvised explosive device detonated near their armoured vehicle during a patrol northwest of Kandahar City, Afghanistan.
O’Quinn, then 25, was part of the 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron at CFB Petawawa in Ontario. The corporal was on his second deployment to central Asia when tragedy struck.
Also killed were Warrant Officer Dennis Raymond Brown and Cpl. Dany Fortin. Two others were wounded.?
According to Veterans Affairs Canada, more than 40,000 Armed Forces members served in the 12-year campaign, which claimed the lives of 165 Canadians – 158 soldiers and seven civilians.
Born in Happy Valley Goose Bay, N.L., and raised in Wassis, just outside Fredericton, O'Quinn was described by his parents, Ken and Rhonda O’Quinn, as someone who “challenged life and encouraged others to do the same.”
The young O’Quinn was also a man of faith.
"He had a wicked wink and he was quite at ease with talking about his faith in Jesus,” Rev. Brian McKenna, the minister of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nasonworth, where the soldier was a member, told me at the time of O’Quinn’s death. “He talked about it easily."?
McKenna described O’Quinn as a caring person who showed his affection through hugs.
O’Quinn’s name is frequently mentioned with respect.
The Chad O’Quinn Memorial Powerlifting competition began in 2010 at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.?
The young soldier was an enthusiastic powerlifter.
Organizers declared there was no better way to honor O’Quinn’s memory “than to lift heavy and step outside of your comfort zone.”
The event’s intensity is obvious if you have ever taken the competition in.
I’ll never forget standing outside the family home shortly after his death, along with other media members, waiting for someone to come outside and make a statement. The day was bone-chilling cold and hit a person hard, but it was nothing like the pain the family was going through inside.
When the parents and other family members emerged, I gained an instant respect for them. They stayed calm and shared a personal moment with the media.
Since then, I have met the family several times and attended a powerlifting competition at Base Gagetown.
As the sand drips through the hourglass with ever-increasing intensity, it becomes more important than ever that we never forget the sacrifices made by soldiers such as Chad O’Quinn.?
In giving his life while wearing this country's uniform, he made the ultimate sacrifice.
O’Quinn's name appears on page 233 of the "In the Service of Canada" Book of Remembrance, which lists Canadians who died serving the country.
It’s kept in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa.?
Lest we forget.