Andrew Grenon Tribute

Private Andrew Grenon of 3 Platoon A Coy 2PPCLI during military duty in Afghanistan, Feb. 7, 2008. (Doug Schmidt/Canwest News Service)

In February, 2007, the Windsor Star interviewed several local Afghan mission veterans from the Windsor, Ont., area who were promising to return. Among them was Cpl. Andrew (Drew) Grenon, who was among the three Canadian soldiers killed today when their vehicle came under attack by insurgents in the volatile Zhari District of Kandahar province. In this archived feature, then-Private Grenon tells the harrowing tale of an attack on his convoy in Masum Ghar, which his platoon narrowly escaped:

When they rolled into Masum Ghar, Grenon said, he was disappointed when he heard firing on the south side of the mountain. He felt they'd gone to the wrong spot and would miss any contact with the enemy.

"And then they started coming up over the ridge and they were hammering us from the top and we were soon getting it from three sides," he recalled.

Cannon fire, mortar rounds, grenades and bullets filled the air. Grenon said he fired 1,600 machine- gun rounds in one two-hour stretch. The next morning, despite the usual effort by the Taliban to remove their dead, the Afghan National Army pulled 72 insurgent bodies off the ridge, which was now in Canadian hands. The Canadians suffered only a few minor injuries.

Grenon was injured twice during his Afghan tour. Once, he was struck deaf and covered in scratches and bruises from thrown-up gravel after a mortar landed in the middle of a patrol base. Another time his LAV III drove over a double-stack of anti-tank mines and his vehicle was enveloped in a fireball. He had to be pulled to safety by his comrades. That led to another bout of short-term hearing loss and a chipped knee bone.

But the worst incident was when the platoon ran a harrowing 8.5-kilometre gauntlet through hundreds of Taliban fighters along Ambush Alley on an Aug. 21 night convoy.

"That was the closest I came to dying," said Grenon.

When Don Hollerhead and the staff at St. Joseph's high school heard that one of their own had paid the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan, the feeling was one of heartbreak and loss.

Hollerhead, a teacher and coach at the school, recalled Cpl. Andrew Grenon as a standout whose leadership attributes blossomed during his school years.

Grenon, 23, was killed along with two other Canadians Wednesday when their vehicle was attacked by Taliban insurgents. He was ending his second tour of duty and was scheduled to return home in two weeks with others of the Second Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based at CFB Shilo in Manitoba. Grenon had also been wounded on his first tour.

Grenon had just received a Canadian Expeditionary Forces Commander's Commendation for an incident that occurred early on his current tour, which began March 3. He had prevented a riot and saved the lives of other Canadian soldiers, the military said.

Hollerhead and St. Joseph's principal Mike Seguin said Grenon was an integral part of the school's leadership program for Grade 11 and 12 students, and his abilities were quickly evident. "He was one of those kids we called 'projects,'" Hollerhead recalled affectionately. Grenon, he said, made up in leadership qualities what he lacked in academic achievements, and his talent for getting the job done made him well-suited to the military.

For example, leadership program students took part in summer camping trips involving hundreds of Grade 8 students, and Grenon demonstrated his talents for organization during those sessions. He also played baseball at St. Joseph's and was a percussionist in the school's music program.

His interest in the military was also evident. He took part in annual Remembrance Day ceremonies as a member of the honour guard, and it wasn't a surprise to teachers that he eventually joined the army. "We thought it would be a good thing for him," Hollerhead said of a military calling.

Grenon, who was born and raised in Windsor, left high school before graduating, Hollerhead and Seguin said. But while in school he made a lot of friends due to his sense of humour.

"It's heartbreaking," Hollerhead said of Grenon's death, the 96th Canadian casualty in Afghanistan and the first of the soldiers from Windsor-Essex. "We've been lucky here -- now it's one of us."

Seguin said staff and students said prayers Wednesday for Grenon, and a special prayer service is scheduled at the school Sept. 12.

The news on the second day of school was made even more poignant by the fact Grenon's 14-year-old brother has just started Grade 9 at St. Joseph's. Counsellors will be available for students, said Seguin, who is also taking on new duties as principal and didn't know Grenon personally.

"Certainly, we're going to honour his life here, He was a real leader," Seguin said. "He paid the ultimate sacrifice."