Click to join our Facebook Fan Page and follow us on Twitter!
Combat Engineers Jacob Moerland, David Smith and his explosives detection dog, Herbie.
This might be a good time to remember that it’s not only American Soldiers and Canines putting their lives on the line for us in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our hearts go out to the families.
– Kenn
Dan Oakes For theage.com.au
The Australian 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment thought it had had a successful day in Afghanistan on Monday. Their patrol had discovered three substantial caches of weapons and munitions – 1600 rounds of ammunition, 23 rocket-propelled grenades and five mortar rounds plus fuses. Ridding the enemy of them would make this war zone that little bit safer.
But it was not to be.
Darren Smith, 25, and Jacob Moerland, 21, did not complete the mission alive. Both were sappers – military engineers who specialise in disarming mines and other explosives.
They died in the southern province of Oruzgan, when a bomb exploded during their patrol.
On a bloody day when 10 coalition troops died, their deaths brought to 13 the total of Australian fatalities in the war.
It was the first time since 1971, during the Vietnam War, that more than one Australian died on the same day on a foreign battleground.
Darren Smith’s wife, Angela, paid tribute to her man. ”Darren was a very loving husband and father, an absolutely remarkable human being,” she said in a statement.
”He was very passionate about his job and understood the risks involved but he was the sort of man who always put others first, and did his best for them, whether it was his mates in the army or at home with his family and friends.”
Sapper Smith leaves behind a 2½-year-old son, Mason.
The blast also killed Sapper Smith’s sniffer dog, Herbie, a 3½-year-old border collie cross (above with Sapper Smith).
Only a month ago he told the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper that dogs and their handlers were ”best mates”.
”It’s one handler, one dog and we rely a lot on the bond between the dog and the handler,” he said. ”The teams are highly trained and doing a great job. It’s a great feeling to be working for your country.”
Sapper Moerland’s mother, Sandra, and sisters Bethany and Laura, said in a statement that he was proud to serve his country, and went to Afghanistan because he believed he could genuinely help its people.
The soldiers were patrolling in the Mirabad Valley when the bomb detonated. One of the soldiers died immediately, while the second was flown to the hospital at Tarin Kowt, but died soon after.
Their bodies are expected to arrive back in Australia over the weekend, after a ceremony at their base today.
Vice Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley told reporters yesterday that the circumstances of the deaths of the soldiers were not completely clear, but would be investigated thoroughly.
NATO, US and Afghan troops are preparing their biggest offensive yet against the Taliban, with total foreign troop numbers in the country set to peak at 150,000 by August.
Lieutenant-General Hurley said: ”The Afghanistan theatre of war is a fairly large area, the 10 or so NATO casualties that have occurred over the last day are quite well distributed across the country,” he said.
”There’s a lot of troops in action and a lot going on at this present time.”
The troops were part of the several hundred-strong Mentoring Task Force, which is training Afghan National Army soldiers.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered his condolences, saying: ”This is an enormous loss for their families and their loved ones.”
Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who is in Pakistan to meet the president, said in a statement: ”Their selfless service will never be forgotten.”
Jun 8, 2010 - View Comments
