I wasn't going to post about this since it's already a huge story back home and across the region. Last week 4 Canadian soldiers died and one of the men (Cpl. Matthew Dinning) was from the town of Wingham (of which I went to the local high school for 4 years). I am just astounded at the amount of support from the community that has been non-stop from purple ribbons adorning trees and poles, to 2,300 people showing up for the funeral this weekend. I guess that's what tragedy does.

CBC coverage, click here for video.
CTV coverage, click here and here for video.

2,300 attend funeral for fallen Canadian soldier
Updated Sat. Apr. 29 2006 11:30 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
An estimated 2,300 people gathered in Wingham, Ont. to remember Cpl. Matthew Dinning, a Canadian soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan one week ago.
Dinning and three other soldiers died on April 22 when a roadside bomb destroyed the G-Wagon jeep carrying them as they travelled from Gumbad to their home base in Kandahar.
People streamed into a hockey arena in the town of 3,000 people about 150 kilometres west of Toronto to attend the funeral for the 23-year-old who was born in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Ontario Provincial Police attended, wearing formal dress uniforms.
Purple ribbons adorned trees and storefronts through town, placed in memory of the fallen soldier.
Those at the service got to watch Dinning's life unfold on a giant video screen as his father Lincoln showed home movies of Matt singing O Canada as a young boy, appearing as Robin Hood in a school play and speaking at a wedding.
(partial article)

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