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K-J Millar
Shilo Stag Media

An Alberta-produced indie film bringing to light the untold stories of Canadian soldiers during the Afghanistan conflict and detailing the first-ever repatriation ramp ceremony will be presented at Landmark Cinema in Brandon on Nov. 4 and 6 at 7 p.m.

CFB Shilo is sponsoring a limited number of tickets for CAF members and civilian employees to attend the showing of “Fallen Soldiers – Their Journey Home.”

“The film highlights the impact of the war on Canadians and is a tribute to the courage and bravery of our men and women in uniform.”

Shilo Stag News sat down with Karen Strowick, the film’s producer and Combined Forces Production Collaborative co-owner. She said the $300,000 budget film is $150,000 self-funded, and the rest came from the Alberta Foundation of the Arts.

The movie’s conception started in 2010 and has taken more than five years of interviews to compile. Strowick is “painfully aware” of how many stories of bravery and humanity remain untold. She said these interviews confirmed that the story of the first ramp ceremony was just one part of a much larger narrative.

Through her position as Director of Outreach Operations, working extensively with the Alberta and Shilo-based Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry units for their 100th anniversary, she heard the impactful stories from soldiers rotating in and out of Afghanistan, leading them to commit to telling these stories.

“Some of them were just so jaw-dropping that, you know, we made a commitment that we were going to find a way to tell these stories.”

She said the most memorable story they heard was from Sergeant-Major Jim Butters about the first ramp ceremony in Afghanistan in 2002. This ceremony involved repatriating four Canadians with honour and respect after a friendly fire incident at Tarnak Farms.

The story is particularly moving due to the strain with the Americans, who were initially reluctant to allow the Canadians to conduct the ceremony in a war zone, she said.

The producer said it was a time when the country was in shock. Canada was unprepared for the loss of soldiers in Afghanistan, as the nation had not lost any CAF members in active conflict since the Korean War (1950-1953).

At the time of the first four losses of life, Canada did not have an office of Mortuary Affairs to deal with the situation and had not even sent any coffins or transfer cases to Afghanistan in preparation for any tragedies.

“There was the subsequent need to find a way to repatriate these four Canadians and not only repatriate them but repatriate them with honour and respect, in a way that you know all of their comrades could say goodbye,” she said.

“This story was so moving to us. Especially because there was an element of tension there with the Americans. It was an American bomb, and the Americans, at first, were very reluctant to have the Canadians conduct a ramp ceremony in the middle of a war zone. You know, it was still very much within reach of missiles and rockets. A well-placed bomb could wipe out the entire Canadian contingent on Kandahar Airfield … there was tension there.”

Despite the risks, the Americans eventually allowed the first-ever ramp ceremony to proceed, and many American soldiers attended, showing humanity and solidarity.

The film was originally titled “The First Ramp Ceremony,” but it was changed to “Fallen Heroes: Their Journey Home” to encompass the broader experience of Canadians in Afghanistan and the Highway of Heroes.

More than 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members served as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2001 to 2014, making it the largest Canadian military deployment since the Second World War. One hundred and fifty-nine CAF members died, including CFB Shilo’s 1 RCHA’s Nicola Goddard, the first Canadian female soldier to die. Seven Canadian civilians died, including one journalist.

Fallen Soldiers – Their Journey Home has been shown in 16 theatres across Ontario and Alberta. Strowick said she hopes to get the support of all the CAF Bases and Wings as it was filmed and re-enacted at CFB Suffield in Alberta and Meweta Calgary Reservist Armouries.

Tickets to the Brandon showings can be purchased on Eventbrite at $17.00 for CAF members and $25 for the general public. PURCHASE TICKETS HERE