SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Late Frank Mellish, C.D.

Honourable senators, as we enter Remembrance Week, I would like to take a moment to share a deeply personal story as a reminder that peace comes at a cost. I’m very honoured to be the third speaker today because all the speeches are connected.

We have to remember that cost is measured not only in lives lost but also in the quiet sacrifices made by those who serve and the families and communities who bear their absence. That cost is not confined to the pages of history or to grainy black-and-white films of past wars. It is felt in our own time, within our communities and families who continue to live with the consequences of service.

One of the great Canadians I wish to talk about is Warrant Officer Frank Mellish; he was killed in action during the insurgent attack on September 3, 2006, during Operation Medusa in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan. As stated, he was killed alongside three of his comrades: Warrant Officer Richard Nolan, Sergeant Shane Stachnik and Private William Cushley.

As His Honour has noted, in the gallery today is Warrant Officer Mellish’s mother, Sandy Mellish. Beside her, in uniform, is Master Warrant Officer Gary Mitchell, who served alongside Warrant Officer Mellish on that fateful day.

Warrant Officer Mellish’s death occurred during his second tour in Afghanistan and his seventh overseas deployment, which included a tour in Croatia. That Croatian tour overlapped with his father’s deployment there with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Service to Canada runs incredibly deep in the Mellish family. Frank has a few cousins who also served. Tragically, his cousin Michael, who also deployed to Afghanistan, later took his own life due to what his family can tell you was survivor’s guilt related to his cousin’s death. Frank’s widow, Kendra, served for 27 years, including her own tours in Afghanistan. That same sense of duty continues in the next generation in their youngest son, Koven; he has joined the Royal Canadian Regiment that Frank once proudly served with. His unit is due to deploy to Poland next year.

His comrades remember Warrant Officer Mellish for his leadership, compassion and unwavering dedication to the soldiers under his care.

His mother, Sandy, is wearing the Silver Cross today, also known as the Memorial Cross. This is granted to mothers, widows and families of Canadian Armed Forces personnel who have died during active duty. It is given to mark personal loss and sacrifice. It is engraved with Frank’s name.

Before deploying, members specify whom their Silver Cross recipients will be. That last bit of pre-deployment paperwork leaves no doubt for the member or their family about the risks they are about to assume on behalf of Canada.

Since her son’s death, Sandy has dedicated herself to helping grieving members and families of the Canadian Armed Forces as they navigate their own sorrow.

While we must never forget the past, remembrance is not about nostalgia. It is about understanding the cost of peace and democracy today and ensuring those who serve and those who stand behind them are never forgotten or left behind.

As senators, we bear a responsibility to remember that every decision about defence and security has a human cost.

Today, and every day, let us remember, not only because we owe it to those who have fallen, but because forgetting risks repeating the same hard lessons.

We will remember them.