KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two soldiers huddled Saturday in the gloom of the Canadian media tent at Kandahar Airfield, quietly sorting and packing away the personal effects of slain journalist Michelle Lang.
As is the military way, they slipped the various items — articles of clothing, running shoes, electronics, and a notepad — into clear plastic bags, each one itemized with its contents in black marker.
“It’s no fun at all,” said a grim-faced Capt. Yves Desbiens, a member of the public affairs liaison staff at Kandahar Airfield.
“It’s like going back through all her stuff and seeing her with it when she was getting ready and leaving.”
A paperback, Finding Hope Beyond the Battle — A Bible for Military Families, sat next to a bottle of multivitamins and a 2010 planner with most of the pages left blank, save for one entry: “Mom’s birthday.”
The 34-year-old Calgary Herald reporter, who was in Afghanistan on assignment for Canwest News Service, died Wednesday alongside four Canadian soldiers when the vehicle they were in was struck by a massive roadside bomb blast outside Kandahar city.
On Friday, the first day of the new year, soldiers wept and saluted their fallen brethren as the five bodies were placed aboard a military transport for the journey home.
Their remains are due to arrive back in Canada for a repatriation ceremony today at noon at CFB Trenton, east of Toronto.
With her belongings properly packaged, labelled and photographed, Desbiens — who helped to arrange the trip “outside the wire” that ended up costing Lang her life — neatly placed the various items into an olive green military container.
A brand new black backpack, only slightly dusty, contained her clothes. Lang had bought it especially for the trip, after deciding the military-style one left in the media tent didn’t quite work for her.
A travel alarm clock, blue towel, socks. Business cards. A pen. And, somewhere, a “favourite” black sweater, hand-washed and hung to dry on a chair in the sun a few days earlier amid sheepish apologies for the incongruous touch of femininity in the otherwise drab, rough surroundings of a sprawling military base.
With everything packed, Desbiens closed the lids of the sturdy, impersonal containers. Atop, labels inscribed: “Michelle Lang, Canadian Civilian, Personal Effects” and “Convoy Load List.”
“It’s like her stuff coming back, but without her . . .” Desbiens said, his voice trailing off.
The items will find their way to Lang’s grieving relatives — part of a process all too familiar to the 138 military families who have endured similar tragedy during Canada’s long, eight-year Afghan mission, but one rare for those of civilians, particularly journalists.
Lang, an award-winning health reporter who was described by those who knew her best as gifted, sweet, gentle and gracious, was the first Canadian journalist to die while covering the Afghan mission.