Soldiering on

by Ray Keating | November 11, 2007 at 09:47 am

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Just over a year ago, W.O. Frank Mellish was felled in Afghanistan. The following is an interesting look at the effect such a terrible event has on families back in Canada. On Remembrance day we should all take a step back from whatever we are doing and reflect on what the men and women on the front lines as well as those on the home front are giving for all of us. No matter what one’s opinion on Canada’s presence in Afghanistan, we owe these people our respect and gratitude.

JIM DAY

The Guardian

The death in Afghanistan last year of a soldier with a strong Island connection continues to haunt — and anger — his mother.

“I have been struggling terribly,’’ said Sandra Mellish, who lives in Truro with her husband, Barry.

“I’ve been battling depression. I have been seeing a psychiatrist.’’

Mellish, who will lay a wreath as the Silver Cross mother in Kensington on Remembrance Day, can’t come to terms with losing her son to war.

Sandra Mellish said as a Christian, she doesn’t believe that war solves anything.

“It really is a horrible war,’’ she said of the battle in Afghanistan.

“I don’t know how we (Canadians) can get up every day and go about our business knowing our boys are over there.’’

Her boy, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, was one of four Canadian soldiers killed “over there’’ on Sept. 3, 2006.

Born in Truro, Frank came to P.E.I. at age 12 in 1980 when his father, Barry, was transferred to the RCMP detachment in Summerside.

Sandra Mellish said each time another soldier is killed she is delivered a fresh blow. Her hurt won’t go away, nor does it even seem to ease. The pain is constant, her sense of loss profound.

“I mean, I love my son and he loved me,’’ she said.

“There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t tell him and I’m glad about that . . . but I’ll tell you, it’s so hard. It (the grief) doesn’t just shut off with the funeral service.’’