Jamie Murphy (soldier)
Jamie Brendan Murphy (1977 (or 1978) - January 26 or 27, 2004) was a corporal of the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment Battalion Group (3 RCR Bn Gp). While serving with that unit's 3rd Battalion as part of Operation Athena, he was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan by a suicide bomber.
Murphy had been serving with the military since the age of 19. His death came about a week before his tour of duty was to end, and friends in his unit report he intended to propose marriage to his girlfriend upon his return to Canada.
Murphy was riding in the second of two Itlis jeeps when his assailant jumped onto it and detonated a mortar round which also killed a civilian in front of a shop and injured other civilians and 3 RCR Bn Gp soldiers. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. One Taliban source has also hinted that the suicide bomber may have been the son of a Canadian citizen and brother of Abdurahman Khadr.
On January 30 a memorial service was held in Pembroke, Ontario. Among the 1,000+ in attendance was Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. Murphy's body was taken the following day to Conception Harbour, Newfoundland, for his funeral February 3.
Murphy is one of a small number of Canadians who have been killed by enemy actions since the Korean War, and the first since Cpl. Daniel Gunther was killed in Bosnia in 1993.
Despite the deaths of Murphy and two other Canadians in Afghanistan, and Murphy's mother's reported statement that "I always said they shouldn't be over there", there has been no strong movement to see Canadian troops withdrawn from the region.
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2004 in Canada
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