A 23-year-old Canadian soldier was remembered Sunday as a globe-trotting, sporty and car-loving man with an infectious sense of humour and a fearless love for life.
Hundreds of military personnel, family and friends gathered at an armoury on a stormy day in Vancouver to remember Pte. Aidan Goulding, one of four soldiers killed last month after a grass fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta overtook troops during a training exercise.
His mother, Sonia Monk, described her son as someone with a great sense of humour, always open to a good laugh.
“Whenever I was disciplining him, he would start to laugh or he would try to say something. I could never properly discipline him,” she said.
“That’s something that our family is going to miss. Nothing is going replace that.”
Sonia Monk, Pte. Aidan Goulding’s mother, says one of the hardest parts of losing someone so young is losing the opportunity to build on her relationship with him. (CBC)
Monk said she was proud of her patriotic son who joined the army from a high-paying job.
“When he finally told me, he said, ‘I have one life to live, I want to do something important, and so I’m joining the army.’ I think that’s so unselfish of him,” she said.
After he joined the Canadian Armed Forces, Goulding felt like he found a place where he belonged, Monk said.
“It gave him a sense of purpose, a family and a place he truly felt at home.”
Goulding’s funeral started with soldiers carrying his flag-draped casket into the armoury, with the sounds of a bagpipe cascading, and some words from a rabbi.
Monk described his upbringing in North Vancouver with his brother, Wylder, who was also his best friend.
“They had each other’s backs,” she said. “Their relationship touched my heart deeply, and I was content in knowing that they would always be close.”
Growing up, he showed his competitive and curious side.
His family said in a statement he played many sports, including soccer and rugby, and developed a love for cars at a young age.
He spent many hours buying used cars, fixing them late into the night under the glow of a lamp on his family’s driveway and then reselling them.
The first car he fine-tuned was a used Chrysler 300C.
The modification: make it louder.
“He loved understanding how things worked and took great pride in making them his own,” his family said.
He was also stylish.
Monk said her son asked to wear a white suit on his first day of Grade 4. When he turned 21, he asked for a gold suit.
“He was unapologetically himself, and I admired that,” she said,
The family has also described Goulding as a globe-trotter.
Sonia Monk, Pte. Aidan Goulding’s mother, says joining the Canadian Armed Forces gave Goulding “a sense of purpose.” (CBC)
In his short life, he explored many parts of the world, including Mexico, Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Malta, the Netherlands, England and Spain.
Reagan Goulding, his aunt, said during the funeral that he often made those around him laugh.
She said it’s been hard knowing that he died at a young age.
“This is perhaps one of the hardest parts of losing someone so young,” she said. “It’s not just the memories we have lost, but the opportunity to make a relationship we still had time to build.”
Reagan Goulding said she could see her nephew, who she described as being “smart, ambitious, determined, and resourceful,” perhaps becoming a police officer or joining CSIS.
“I truly believe great things were in his future. We wanted him to know that we all saw this in him, that we believed in him and became a proud follower of him,” she said.
She said her last message to Goulding was sent on the day of the tragedy, a text message that said, “Aidan, you better be OK.”
She never received a reply.
Reagan Goulding said if she knew this was her last message she would have said more, including telling him one more time how proud she was.
She also remembered the other soldiers killed in the fire.
They were: Pte. Hayden Lykkemark, 19, of Langley, B.C.; Sgt. Morgan Wong, 26, of Edmonton; and Pte. Shaun Farrell, 23, of Prince Albert, Sask.
“They were young men who matched their calling, who stood beside one another, and who were parts of the family themselves. Their loss is felt by their families, their friends, soldiers, and everyone who has been touched by this tragedy,” she said.
“Aidan and his fellow soldiers will not be forgotten,” she added.
As the soldiers carried the casket out of the armoury and reloaded it into a hearse to head to the cemetery, the sun broke through the clouds, casting its light over rainy Vancouver.
Monk, who spoke to media after the funeral, said she felt it was a sign from Goulding, encouraging her to move forward with life.
“Because I think through tragedy or hardship, he would always say things like that, ‘We’ll move forward.’ So, I think that’s what he was sort of saying to me today, actually, with the sun shining bright in my eyes.”
Monk said she felt “supported and lifted” after hearing stories from Goulding’s “brothers and sisters” in the army.
“I’m quite tired, I haven’t eaten a lot, I haven’t slept a lot. But all the support and seeing everybody here today, it’s remarkable. I can’t find a word other than remarkable,” said Monk, adding that “There’s lots of love in Canada.”
