Trooper Darryl Caswell is home

June 16, 2007 - 12:09

By Chris Glover

TRENTON -- In a coffin draped with a Canadian flag, Trooper Darryl Caswell received a hero’s welcome as he arrived home Friday night.

Eight soldiers carried Mr. Caswell’s body from the plane, as family and friends viewed the repatriation ceremony at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Trenton.

After the sombre ceremony at the military base, a procession travelled along Hwy. 401 from Trenton to Toronto. Led by a car with a purple light fixed to its roof, the cavalcade took over the lanes of Canada’s busiest highway so people could pay their respects to the fallen hero.

Mr. Caswell, a former Bowmanville High School student who joined the military in 2004, was killed Monday about 40 kilometres north of Kandahar City, when a roadside bomb detonated near the vehicle in which he was travelling.

A member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at Petawawa, Mr. Caswell was just six weeks shy of completing his six-month stint overseas.

As the procession travelled through Durham Region, the bridges over Hwy. 401 were packed with well-wishers.

When Audrey Hele saw the people cheering and waving their flags she said she needed to be a part of it.

“It was the most awesome, inspiring thing to see people waiting on the bridge to pay their respects,” she said. “I’ve never seen such an awesome display of patriotism... it makes you proud to be Canadian.”

The visitation for Mr. Caswell will take place Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Northcutt Elliott Funeral Home in Bowmanville. A full military funeral will be held at Trinity United Church in Bowmanville 3 p.m. Wednesday and interment will take place at Beechwood Military Cemetery in Ottawa. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Society or RCD Guild.

Visitation, Funeral and Interment:

--with files from Jennifer Stone

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