Master Corporal Darrell Priede

Master Corporal Darrell Jason Priede, born in Burlington, Ont., and raised in British Columbia, was a military Imagery Technician serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Regional Command (South) Headquarters at Kandahar Airfield. He was killed when the helicopter in which he was a passenger went down on May 30th, 2007, near the town of Kajaki, Helmand Province, about 95 kms northwest of Kandahar City.

Master Corporal Priede was a member of the Army News Team from 3 Area Support Group, based at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick. The other six military personnel (5 from the US and one from England) aboard the helicopter were also killed in the incident.

John Priede says his 30-year-old son, who volunteered to go to Afghanistan as a photographer, wanted to become a journalist, "He was just the type of boy that when he put his mind to it, he just succeeded in what he did," he says, "He had that knack. And he's going to be greatly missed now. He thoroughly wanted to show the people of the world what good Canadians and people are doing over there."

Capt. Mark Gough, an army spokesman in Halifax, who works with Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick where Priede was stationed, said military photographers, or "imagery technicians," play an essential role documenting the experience. "His pictures spoke volumes about the work we're doing over there and are the window into our operations there," Gough said."Without guys like Darrell, without photos that they bring back and show back in Canada, people won't understand what we're doing over there."