Brian Isfeld

I personally do not think the Canadian public gives the support they are 
capable of, and indeed willing to, give to our peacekeepers everywhere.  
With this in mind, I intend to add my one small but piercing voice in order 
to help rectify this situation.

It is not my intention to lay blame with the military or with anyone 
involved at the scene.  I make here one, and only one, observation.

Had they had at their disposal on the 21 Jun 1994 at the site where Mark was 
killed, dogs trained in explosives detection, my son would be alive today, I 
believe most emphatically.

     I pray, let the blame for this deficiency in support find its way to 
the source quickly, and rectify it, so another does not have to die needlessly.

     The following UNOFFICIAL information I gleaned from various sources 
following the accident and during my stay in Chilliwack for the funeral of 
my son.
        The section, consisting of sappers Merriam, Taillefeur,  Corporal 
Klassen, Sgt James, infantry Sgt Paul Macmillan and of course Mark, had 
cleared an area along a dike to gain  access to a water pipe which the Serbs 
or Croats or possibly the Chetniks had blown up previously.  As Mark was 
guiding an armoured personnel carrier up the side of a berm, and Greg and Sgt
Macmillan were standing about 30 meters away on a cement abutment, the 
carrier apparently set off a mine in the tall (one meter or more) grass.  
This in turn set off a mine in the close proximity to Mark, killing him and 
injuring the other two, Greg and Paul.
      The mine was one designated PROM-1, an insidious contraption, designed 
to be buried in the ground, and when set off bounds up a distance of about 1 
meter, exploding.  It has about 500-700 steel balls inside it, 5 mm in 
diameter.  Upon reaching 1 meter above the ground it explodes, due
to a wire attached to the base, which stays in the ground.  The ensuing 
explosion directs the balls and fragments of the mine in a 360 degree area.
     Mark was hit from a distance of about three meters, at abdomen level 
and was severely wounded from the waist down.  He fell, or was blown, 
backward where he lay with his hands above his head, his mouth and eyes open 
and making no sound.  Both legs (femur) were broken, and severe damage to 
intestines and right hand.  The aortael artery was severed and he bled
profusely.  In the words of  the official death certificate,  "Heavy 
hemorrhagenic shock." 
"Massive fragmentation injuries abdomen, pelvis, right hand and both femurs 
with fracture." 
        Greg and Paul were knocked off the cement pads and were down in the 
tall grass, which had started to burn, being ignited by the blast.
        Sappers Merriam and Taillefeur came over top the carrier from the 
rear, and immediately went to Mark where Merriam, or "Hollywood" as he is 
known to the troops, began to give CPR to Mark.  He stuffed a combat shirt 
into the largest wound and at the same time gave Mark mouth to mouth 
resuscitation.  He gained and lost a pulse three times in the process, with 
Mark not responding in any other way.  In the meantime "Tally", sizing up 
the situation and realizing that Greg and Paul could be burned to death in 
the field, went to their aid, and with the aid of the medics from the 
ambulance which is always near by on an operation like this, pulled the two of
them to safety.  A helicopter was dispatched and arrived in about 14 minutes 
which was very good time, and took Mark and Greg to Knin, Croatia, where 
there is a Czech field hospital.  They lost and regained Mark's pulse in the 
helicopter two or three times.  He died officially on the operating table in 
Knin, but for me, I will always believe that he died at the moment of the
explosion, and only the efforts of the individuals involved and their 
overwhelming desire to save one of their brothers kept the pulse and 
adrenaline flowing.  I shall always be grateful to Tally and Hollywood for 
their efforts and they have a place in my heart and home evermore.
  	 It is my intention to not let the memory and deeds of Mark to be 
forgotten nor do I intend the deeds of any other peacekeeper, living or dead 
to be forgotten.  In fact, I intend for the rest of my life to be a "thorn 
in the side" of all who would denigrate the values these people hold dear, 
or who would commit these people to tasks without proper support, and I will 
defy anyone who
questions my right or motive to do so.
		 GOD HELP THIS NATION IF MY SON DIED IN VAIN!

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