Iraq casualty makes last flight home
March 31, 2005 - 5:00PM
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Australia's first military casualty of the Iraq conflict has been flown home aboard an RAAF aircraft whose crew wanted the honour of carrying their former colleague on his final flight.
The widow of RAF Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel was comforted by family members after the plane bearing her husband's body touched down in Canberra.
Kellie Merritt awaited her husband's Australian flag-draped casket as it was carried down the rear ramp of a C-130 Hercules aircraft.
Bearing the coffin were three classmates from the Australian Defence Force Academy where Flt Lt Pardoel graduated in 1991, and three members of the Royal Air Force.
A brief and moving service was then held on the tarmac at RAAF base Fairbairn, where Ms Merritt was flanked by the father of three's parents John and Margaret Pardoel and her own parents, Maurie and Colleen Merritt.
Throughout the service, conducted by RAAF chaplain Air Commodore Peter O'Keefe, a visibly distressed Ms Merritt was comforted by family members.
Air Commodore O'Keefe said Flt Lt Pardoel had paid the supreme sacrifice in his service of freedom.
"We honour and pay tribute to him, respectfully welcome him home with military honours, mourning his great loss to his family and cherishing his memory always," he said.
Flt Lt Pardoel, 35, will be officially laid to rest at a military funeral on Friday next week in Canberra.
He and nine other British servicemen died when their C-130 Hercules transport aircraft crashed minutes after taking off from Baghdad airport on January 30.
Just why the crash occurred hasn't yet been established.
An ongoing British military inquiry has ruled out a number of possible causes including a bomb on board or structural failure, but left open the possibility it was shot down by insurgents.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking-News/Iraq-casualty-makes-last-flight-home/2005/03/31/1111862522122.html
God be with you and watch over your family
March 31, 2005 - 5:00PM
Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Australia's first military casualty of the Iraq conflict has been flown home aboard an RAAF aircraft whose crew wanted the honour of carrying their former colleague on his final flight.
The widow of RAF Flight Lieutenant Paul Pardoel was comforted by family members after the plane bearing her husband's body touched down in Canberra.
Kellie Merritt awaited her husband's Australian flag-draped casket as it was carried down the rear ramp of a C-130 Hercules aircraft.
Bearing the coffin were three classmates from the Australian Defence Force Academy where Flt Lt Pardoel graduated in 1991, and three members of the Royal Air Force.
A brief and moving service was then held on the tarmac at RAAF base Fairbairn, where Ms Merritt was flanked by the father of three's parents John and Margaret Pardoel and her own parents, Maurie and Colleen Merritt.
Throughout the service, conducted by RAAF chaplain Air Commodore Peter O'Keefe, a visibly distressed Ms Merritt was comforted by family members.
Air Commodore O'Keefe said Flt Lt Pardoel had paid the supreme sacrifice in his service of freedom.
"We honour and pay tribute to him, respectfully welcome him home with military honours, mourning his great loss to his family and cherishing his memory always," he said.
Flt Lt Pardoel, 35, will be officially laid to rest at a military funeral on Friday next week in Canberra.
He and nine other British servicemen died when their C-130 Hercules transport aircraft crashed minutes after taking off from Baghdad airport on January 30.
Just why the crash occurred hasn't yet been established.
An ongoing British military inquiry has ruled out a number of possible causes including a bomb on board or structural failure, but left open the possibility it was shot down by insurgents.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking-News/Iraq-casualty-makes-last-flight-home/2005/03/31/1111862522122.html
God be with you and watch over your family
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:42 AM
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