The Silver Cross is presented to the mothers of all members of the Canadian military killed in the service of their country and, each year, the Royal Canadian Legion asks one of those mothers to be the “Silver Cross Mother” for the National Remembrance Day service held in Ottawa. This year, the Legion has announced that Mrs. Roxanne Marie Priede of Hamilton, Ontario will represent all the mothers who have lost sons or daughters in action. Mrs. Priede is the mother of Master Corporal Darrell Jason Priede, who died in a Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2007.
Here is the background on the Priedes provided by the Legion:
Mrs. Roxanne Marie Priede
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Mrs. Roxanne Marie Priede (née Chartrand), attended Briarwood Vocational High School where she met her future husband John Priede. They were married on 16 October 1976. The Priede family moved to Greenwood, British Columbia in 1979. They had three children, Darrell, Denise and David.
Mrs. Priede was a stay-at-home mom raising her children for almost fifteen (15) years before she joined the workforce as a custodial contractor. She now works in the restaurant business. Her husband, John, who will be accompanying her for the National Remembrance Day ceremony, works as a highway maintenance worker. Mr. and Mrs. Priede enjoy long walks, camping and outdoor activities as well as spending time with their family, including their three grandchildren.
Mrs. Priede remembers her eldest child, Darrell, as a modest, soft spoken, kind hearted man who was quick to crack a smile or share a joke.Master Corporal Darrell Jason Priede
Master Corporal Darrell Jason Priede, a Military Image Technician serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Regional Command (South) Headquartered at Kandahar Airfield was killed when the Chinook helicopter he was a passenger in crashed in Kajaki, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on 30 May 2007.
Darrell was born in 1977 in Burlington, Ontario. Two years later, the Priede family moved to Greenwood and later Grand Forks, British Columbia where he graduated from the Grand Forks Secondary School. In 1996 he joined the Canadian Forces where he served in the Army as a Gunner in the Royal Canadian Artillery and two tours in Bosnia. After his second tour, he transferred to the Air Force where he served as a photographer when he was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan during Operation Athena – a military offensive against the Taliban. He had been serving in Afghanistan a little more than one month before the helicopter crash.
Darrell is survived by his wife, Angela Dawn (Mitchell) Priede with whom he had just marked his four-year anniversary (14 May 2003) before his passing. He was 30 years old and the 56th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.
In Honour of MCpl Priede, the Canadian Forces has instituted the Master Corporal Darrell J. Priede Top Candidate Award for the seven-week Army News Course which began in the Fall of 2007.