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Armed Forces remembers victims of helicopter crash

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Despite the brilliant sunshine and the climbing temperature, it was still a sombre mood at 8 Wing Trenton Wednesday afternoon as a large crowd gathered for the repatriation ceremony for the six victims of last week’s crash involving a Canadian Armed Forces CH-148 Cyclone helicopter during a NATO training exercise off the coast of Greece.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the day away from giving his daily COVID-19 update to travel to Trenton to join the families of the six victims for the repatriation and was joined by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, and General Jonathan Vance, the chief of defence staff, who were among those in attendance at the ceremony.

Family members were joined by a large cast of military personnel and politicians while no members of the public were allowed to attend. Everyone present was adorned with a face mask to protect from the spread of COVID-19.

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Only the remains of Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, 23, have been recovered and her body arrived in Trenton aboard a C-17 Globemaster at 2 p.m.

Her casket, draped in a Canadian flag, was loaded into one of six hearses sitting on the tarmac at the east end of the airfield.

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The other missing and presumed dead are Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald of New Glasgow, N.S.; Capt. Kevin Hagen of Nanaimo, B.C.; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin of Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke of Truro, N.S.; and Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins of Guelph.

They were honored with headgear on pillows, each loaded into a separate hearse for the ride along the Highway of Heroes to Toronto where Cowbrough’s body was delivered to the Office of the Chief Coroner: Ontario.

A large contingent of Royal Canadian Legion 110 members from Trenton lined the side of the road, flying their colour flags as the vehicles exited the base.

“This is what we do for repatriations,” said Branch 110 first vice-president Al Plume. “We come to pay our respects to those people who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

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The day the crash was reported, Cowbrough’s father, Shane, posted a heart-wrenching message on Facebook.

“I am broken and gutted. Today I lost my oldest daughter Abbigail Cowbrough in the crash involving the Cyclone from HMCS Fredericton,” he wrote. “There are no words. You made me forever proud. I will love you always, and miss you in every moment. You are the bright light in my life taken far too soon.”

Cowbrough, Miron-Morin, Hagen and MacDonald all graduated from Royal Military College in Kingston.

One of her RMC schoolmates, Elizabeth Audet was in Trenton Wednesday to pay respects with Belleville family, David and Sue Clements and their son Hugo – who just completed his third year at RMC.

Audet, a Montreal native, said Cowbrough was the ultimate role model.

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“She was an inspiration to so many people – everything she did was done as well as she could,” Audet said after Cowbrough’s hearse had passed on its way to Toronto. “She touched everyone and I feel really angry right now because she was such a positive person, this just doesn’t feel right.”

Cowbrough went to high school in Peterborough and was a former piper with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment.

A native of Nova Scotia, Cowbrough was said to have been deeply touched by the recent shooting tragedy in that province. Just days before the helicopter crash claimed her life, she was videoed playing Amazing Grace on the deck of HMCS Fredericton in tribute to the victims in Nova Scotia.

“That’s just the way she was,” Audet. “She cared about everyone.”

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