The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> A Quisling's funeral

Posted by Tiglath (Guest) - Thursday, March 19 2009, 4:20:42 (CET)
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Soldier's gripping farewell
By IAN ROBERTSON, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 18th March 2009, 11:30am

In a video Trooper Marc Diab made in case he didn't return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is shown having fun off-duty and as a soldier.
Play Video In a video Trooper Marc Diab made in case he didn't return from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is shown having fun off-duty and as a soldier -- a life mourners at his funeral heard yesterday he chose with pride.

It concludes with a message: "Don't cry ... cause I'll see you ... tomorrow."

Diab, 22, of Mississauga, gave a pal the black-and-white video -- which ends with him kissing his beloved girlfriend, Mary Barakat, 21 -- to be aired in church should he be killed, Rev. Emmanuel Nakhle told 1,000 people in Our Lady of Lebanon Church on Queen St. W.

Another video had photos of friends and scenes in Lebanon -- the country he left in 2000.

The Royal Canadian Dragoons member was killed March 8 by a bomb in Afghanistan -- the 112th Canadian soldier to die in the conflict since 2002.

Four companions in their Coyote armoured vehicle were injured by the "improvised explosive device" in a mountainous area north of Kandahar.

Six white streamers were hung on the church steps, between the flags of Canada and Lebanon, before the 95-minute funeral mass got under way.

Many mourners wore Diab photo buttons. A framed picture of the lanky soldier stood at the altar, below screens showing him with youngsters at a church summer camp he organized.

Mourners included veterans, soldiers, 20 members of the Governor-General's Horse Guards, police officers, Mounties and Mayor Hazel McCallion. Eleven priests participated in the Maronite Catholic service.

Two red-coated soldiers -- with ceremonial spiked brass helmets -- joined a procession as Diab's flag-draped coffin was carried by eight regimental comrades, accompanied by two girls scattering red flower petals onto the red carpet as a children's choir sang.

Two friends opened with eulogies in English and Biblical Arabic. Altar boy Brian Awad later sang a personal tribute.

"Goodbye, my friend, we all love you," Anthony Moussalem added. "Your heart was big enough for everyone."

Father Emmanuel Nakhle said Diab's girlfriend, who was to be his "life's companion," was too upset to speak.

"He showed lots of dedication," and had a "pure spirit," said the priest.

"No love is greater than dying for the others," he said. "Marc, you cared for the others, you served for the others and you gave them hope.

"The Lebanese community of Toronto will never forget," Nakhle said, praying in Aramaic.

Seeking freedom for Afghanis, Trooper Aly Alwani said Diab "died in a faraway, distant land ... as a hero.

"Marc Diab fought for what he believed was good," Alwani said. "He served his country with honour and his family with love -- he will never be forgotten."

Remembered for humour plus thoughtful advice, the soccer-loving outdoorsman planned to propose to Barakat back home, his family said earlier.

They met before his family emigrated to Canada, when he was 12.

Calling him "my son," Charbel Barakat promised his daughter's boyfriend "will be engraved in our memory" as a faithful man who helped others and "a friend whose love was endless.

"My dear Marc, you paid the ultimate price for a cause you believed in, for a better world to live in," Barakat said.

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