Mother of soldier killed in CFB Wainwright fire says her 'beautiful son' wanted to protect Canada
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Aidan Goulding had big dreams that will never be realized, his grieving mother says.
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mother → have → dreams
Goulding, 23, was one of four service members killed on Saturday when a grass fire swept through Canadian Forces Base Wainwright.
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fire → kill → Wainwright
Dozens more were injured.
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His mother, Sonia Monk, says Goulding quit a steady job as a mechanic earlier this year to join the Canadian military, declaring that he had only one life to live, and he wanted to dedicate it to protecting his country.
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he → say → country
In an emotional interview on Monday from her home on Vancouver Island, Monk spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal about her son's unfulfilled dreams, her family's grief, and the moment she first heard the devastating news.
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she → speak → news
How are you and your family holding up?
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you → hold → ?
His brother was in pieces when I came home [yesterday].
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I → come → pieces
And it doesn't seem real.
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it → seem → ?
Goulding, right, bids goodbye to his mother and brother at the airport before leaving to begin his service in the Canadian military earlier this year.
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Goulding → bid → military
His mother says her two sons were best friends.
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sons → say → ?
What do you say in those moments?
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you → say → moments
Or maybe there's nothing to say, it's just to be together.
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it → be → ?
I say a lot of time, "We'll get through this, we'll get through this."
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we → say → this
Aidan doesn't, wouldn't, want us to be like this and to stop our lives.
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us → want → lives
Aidan had such a fantastic sense of humour and forged through the tough times.
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Aidan → have → times
He didn't ever wallow in things.
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He → wallow → things
What were you doing as that news came in?
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news → do → What
I had just come home from grocery shopping with my husband.
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I → come → husband
And it was Wylder, my son, who texted me and said, "Do you know what's happening in Wainwright, right now?"
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what → texte → Wainwright
So he told me there was an explosion and a fire.
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he → tell → me
And so I started to look it up and then I turned on the news.
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I → start → news
And then my heart just dropped.
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heart → drop → ?
And that's all we did is watch the news.
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we → do → news
We waited for the phone to ring.
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phone → wait → ?
Wylder and I were texting Aidan like crazy.
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Wylder → texte → Aidan
As the hours went by, I just started thinking no news is not good news.
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news → go → ?
We should have heard from him by now if he's injured and in a hospital, or if he is walking around and OK.
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he → hear → hospital
And my husband kept saying, "No, I have a feeling it's not going to be Aidan."
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it → keep → feeling
That's what we did, like, until 11-11:30 at night, when our doorbell rang.
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doorbell → do → night
What did they say?
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they → say → What
I didn't want to open the door because I just knew.
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I → want → door
When I opened the door, they said, "Can we come in?"
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we → open → door
And they said, "I'm very sorry to tell you that your son, Aidan Goulding, has been killed.
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son → say → you
And, you know, honestly, I don't know what they said after that."
Sonia.
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they → know → that
It's very generous of you to talk to us in the middle of all of this.
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It → talk → this
You mentioned his sense of humour and his resilience.
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You → mention → humour
What did he tell you about why he wanted so much to join the military?
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he → tell → military
He told me in December last year that he'd been thinking, you know, "I have one life to live and I really don't want to do what I'm doing for the rest of my life, but I feel like I need to protect our country.
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I → tell → country
I feel I need to join the army."
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I → feel → army
…and 36 more, not listed.
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