He is home now'
DENNIS BROWN: Thousands turn out to pay tribute to fallen soldier
Posted By SUN MEDIA
Posted 1 hour ago
Welcome home Dad.
We miss you. We love you.
The simple, heart-wrenching messages were scrolled on handmade posters held up in a teeming rain by the four children of fallen St. Catharines Warrant Officer Dennis Brown as he made his final return home Tuesday.
The slain soldier's journey back to St. Catharines from Afghanistan was less personal for hundreds of others.
But they wanted to show they cared about his sacrifice just the same.
A week to the day after Brown was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, thousands of people stood on highway overpasses and lined city streets Tuesday to welcome a motorcade carrying his remains from Toronto to St. Catharines.
The huge crowd honouring Brown's sacrifice included reservists with his Lincoln and Welland Regiment, firefighters from across the region, army cadets and complete strangers who wanted to show their support.
"He'd be loving this," said Pam Hendsbee of St. Catharines, a long-time friend of Brown's and a former reservist with his regiment.
Brown, 38, was killed last Tuesday along with two other Canadian soldiers when their armoured vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb northwest of Kandahar.
A motorcade led by Niagara Regional Police cruisers escorted Brown's body from the Ontario coroner's office in downtown Toronto to the Butler Funeral Home on Duke Street by about 1 p. m.
The procession took Brown past the Lake Street Armoury and the Church Street courthouse where Brown worked as a special constable with the NRP.
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Lincoln and Welland reservists formed an honour guard out front of the funeral home as Brown arrived.
Shortly after his casket was taken inside by a bearer party of eight of soldiers, Hendsbee remembered Brown as a character with great spirit.
"It's all still so surreal," she said, her tears mixing with the rain. "I keep seeing his picture and thinking, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe he's not coming home.' Well, he is home now."
Brown's return began as the motorcade pulled out of Toronto about 11 a. m.
Communities along the route from the GTA to Niagara paid their respects to the passing procession, extending the Highway of Heroes all soldiers killed in Afghanistan follow from CFB Trenton to Toronto.
The motorcade crossed into Niagara about noon and made it into Brown's hometown roughly half an hour later.
12:35 p. m., Seventh Street
About 400 people jammed the Seventh Street bridge over the QEW. At its height, the flag-waving crowd was three and four rows thick.
Members of Brown's regiment, Niagara firefighters, the NRP and other emergency workers were in full force.
Out of respect, two fire trucks extended their ladders into an inverted "V." A Lincs and Winks regimental flag and a Canadian flag hung in the middle.
For Hector LeBlanc of West Lincoln and daughters Lea Fogg and Diane Zeleny, of St. Catharines, the scene stirred feelings of Canadian pride and respect for Brown. The repeated honking of QEW trucks and cars visibly moved them.
Fogg's son James is a signal operator with the Canadian Forces, based in Kingston.
"You don't think you can cry anymore, this is so patriotic," she said. "Canadians are not demonstrative about their patriotism, but we're changing."
As the procession drove through, members of the regiment saluted. A murmuring crowd fell silent.
Many bowed their heads and some were suddenly in tears.
"What a way for him to come home," said St. Catharines firefighter Brandon Green.
12:37 p. m., Martindale Road bridge
The row of tightly packed firefighters in their dark blue uniforms on the Martindale Road bridge snapped to attention in unison. Each of them held their right hands to the brim of their caps to salute Brown as the motorcade drove by.
St. Catharines, Thorold and Niagara Falls firefighters joined hundreds of ordinary citizens at the bridge to watch the procession carrying Brown's body.
Among the throng that packed the bridge were veterans, Ridley College cadets, police officers and the relatives of soldiers.
"We're here to pay our respects," said veteran Jim Karzmarek RCR of Branch 24 of the Royal Canadian Legion. "When you are part of the military family, you expect this. You don't like it, you don't want it to happen, but you know it is part of wearing the uniform."
Several people arrived at the bridge more than an hour before the motorcade passed by. Among the early arrivals was Kathy Brown, a friend of Dennis Brown's wife, Mishelle.
For Kathy Brown, honouring Canada's war dead is not just an act of respect or patriotism. It's deeply personal.
Her son Trevor, a member of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, is serving in Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Regiment.
She said Mishelle has been a source of strength for the families of Lincs and Winks members since the regiment began sending soldiers into the war zone.
"She is the one who brought everyone together. Without her, I don't think the families would have come together like we have."
12:45 p. m., Welland Avenue
"Here they come."
The anonymous voice brought an instant hush to the large throng waiting for the motorcade on Welland Avenue out front of the armoury.
Those with military ties -- the vets, the reservists, the legion members and the cadets -- saluted as the hearse carrying Brown's body stopped for about half a minute, while the remainder of the crowd looked on silently.
Seventeen-year-old Blair Hampel of Fort Erie took a half day off school to make sure he was part of Brown's welcome home.
"He gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country. It's the least I can do to support his family and the troops still in Afghanistan," said the Grade 12 student at Ridge-way-Crystal Beach High School.
Brown's death brings the reality of war closer to home, but Hampel said it won't change his plans to enter the Canadian forces this summer and go to Royal Military College in Kingston in September.
"I know there's a risk," he said.
"It makes me think a little more, but it doesn't really affect my decision."
Nearby, Penny and Jim Davis of Thorold waved a Canadian flag and dressed in red as a show of support for Canadians in Afghanistan.
The couple felt an affinity for Brown because of their own military background. They met when they were both in the air force and have a son, Scott Davis, who's a Lincoln and Welland reservist.
"Once you're in the military, you're always in the military," Penny said.
"The point is, Dennis is ours. He's Canadian."
12:50 p. m., Duke Street
Rain fell, followed by tears.
Mishelle Brown leaned out of the window clutching a small Canadian flag as her limousine rolled to a stop in front of the courthouse in downtown St. Catharines.
Water dripped off Brown's face as she craned her neck to see the silent masses lining both sides of Church Street for a full block.
She looked back to see a salute from her husband's co-workers, 40-plus Niagara Regional Police officers and special constables standing shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse.
Then she burst into tears.
Easily a dozen of the nearest bystanders did the same as Brown bowed her head and sobbed into her arms.
"Thank you," she called out hoarsely to the crowd as the limo slowly moved away. "Thank you."
The crowd began gathering at noon -- about the time the courthouse essentially shut down.
Police and special constables streamed out of the building first, past an entranceway memorial featuring a photo of Special Constable Dennis Brown, a book full of signatures and an ever-growing display of flowers.
Const. Jack Gill stood at attention to honour a colleague and a fellow member of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.
"I was seven-and-a-half years in the military ... and I have 30 years in the police force," he said. "If a man is willing to go out and do what he was doing (in Afghanistan), he deserves all the respect we can give him, and all the admiration."
Hundreds of people lined the streets by 12:30 p. m., but Paul Scrannage staked out a spot an hour earlier at the Bistro on Church Street.
The St. Catharines man recognized Brown's face in the newspaper as one of the special constables who occasionally played Special Olympics basketball with his sons, 15-year-old Tommy and 14-year-old Willie.
"I figured my son has probably hugged this man," said Scrannage. "I just wanted to pay my respects."
12:55 p. m.
Dennis and Mishelle Brown's children -- Mackenzie, Owen, Benjamin and Jenna -- stood on Duke Street across from the funeral home, sheltered from the rain by a reservist holding two umbrellas.
The three boys held individual posters that delivered a joint message. Welcome. Home. Dad.
Their step sister held up another sign -- We love you. We miss you.
Mishelle watched as eight of her husband's closest friends carried his casket on their shoulders to an entrance of the funeral home.
As they took him inside, she closed her eyes and dropped her face to the framed photo of her husband clutched to her chest.
Dennis Brown is home.
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Funeral details for Warrant Officer Dennis Brown
The funeral for Warrant Officer Dennis Brown is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Lake Street Armoury in St. Catharines.
A procession will leave the Butler Funeral Home on Duke Street at 1 p. m. and travel to the armoury, where Brown's Lincoln and Welland Regiment is based.
A military funeral ceremony for "official mourners" is set for 2 p. m. at the armoury.
An overflow facility has been arranged at Niagara Celebration Church at 310 Scott St. to allow members of the general public to observe the service.
Visitation at the Butler Funeral Home is scheduled for Thursday and Friday from 2 to 4 p. m. and 7 to 9 p. m.
