QLD:Aussie soldier arrives home

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2010
QLD:Aussie soldier arrives home

Eds: Adds quotes from Brigadier Paul McLachlan and other details about ceremony.



BRISBANE, Aug 30 AAP - Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney has been remembered as a loving
father and husband who died in the arms of his mates after he was shot in Afghanistan.

His body was returned home on Monday during a sombre repatriation ceremony in Brisbane,
which was told the 28-year-old nicknamed Crash had found his true calling as a soldier.

Colleagues and family were at RAAF Amberley base for the 4.30pm (AEST) arrival of a
C-17 Globemaster carrying the soldier's body in a coffin draped with the Australia flag
and a wreath.

Lance Corporal MacKinney was killed during an intense three-hour battle with Taliban
insurgents in the western part of Oruzgan province last Tuesday, denying him the chance
to see his unborn son.

Commander of the 7th Brigade, Brigadier Paul McLachlan ADC, paid tribute to the fallen
soldier, saying he "will be remembered as a great mate, a loving husband and father".

"Today, we bring Crash home and restore him to the loving arms of his family," Brigadier
McLachlan told the ceremony.

"He had found his true calling and died in the arms of his mates.

"He passes into the glorious history of the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment."

Defence Minister John Faulkner and head of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus
Houston, also attended the service.

LCpl MacKinney is survived by his wife, Beckie, three-year-old daughter Annabell and
an unborn son.

He is the 21st Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan, the 10th this year.

He is also the sixth Brisbane-based soldier killed in Afghanistan since June.

Private Grant Kirby, 35, and Private Thomas Dale, 21, were killed by an explosive device
in the Baluchi Valley on August 21.

Three others - Private Nathan Bewes, 23, Sapper Jacob Moerland, 21, and Sapper Darren
Smith, 25 - have died in action since June 7.

Australia's annual Legacy Week appeal, which raises money for the families of fallen
soldiers, began on Sunday.

AAP bzs/tr/cdh

KEYWORD: AFGHAN AUST 2ND WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)

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