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Sea of red tears

Four slain Mounties remembered by thousands at national service

EDMONTON (CP) -- In a solemn ceremony filled with tears, love and pride, Canada said goodbye Thursday to four young Mounties cut down in the line of duty by a crazed gunman.

The memorial began with a kilometre-long parade of scarlet-clad RCMP and police from across North America marching together in solidarity with their fallen comrades.

The officers then joined with grieving relatives and thousands of citizens, students and children to hear tributes to constables Peter Schiemann, 25, Leo Johnston, 32, Anthony Gordon, 28, and Brock Myrol, 29.

"They have fallen in service to us," Prime Minister Paul Martin told the crowd of more than 11,000 crammed into the University of Alberta pavilion in a service that was broadcast live across Canada on television and radio.

"The people of Canada owe an untold debt to these four officers and their families. We owe a debt to each and every woman and man who chooses to put on a uniform, to submit to risk, to face harm."

Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson also offered words of comfort to the families of the slain.

"What must never leave you is the gratitude of a nation," she said on a stage with a large Canadian flag as a backdrop.

"These men so cared about the public good that they were willing to die to serve it."

The four RCMP were ambushed by James Roszko in a Quonset hut on his farm near Mayerthorpe, northwest of Edmonton.

The shootings marked the worst massacre of Mounties in Canadian history, surpassing even the deaths of three members of the Northwest Mounted Police at Duck Lake, Sask., during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.

Near Mayerthorpe, on top of the hill overlooking Roszko's farm, four RCMP officers blinked back tears as they listened to the ceremony on their car radios.

Other officers were still investigating the crime scene, listening to the service within metres of the spot where Roszko ambushed their colleagues.

"The feeling was indescribable," said Cpl. Rodney Koscielny. "Everybody on site here hasn't had much of a chance to think about it. When you hear today's broadcast you start to think of it. It's been overwhelming for all of us."

At the service, family members and friends of the constables recalled their loved ones with fondness and heartache.

"The pain of our loss is beyond anything we could have imagined," Don Schiemann said of his son.

"Peter, we shall see you in heaven, but we can hardly wait."

Schiemann's eulogy sent a ripple of sadness through the crowd as burly police officers as well as civilians wiped away tears.

Const. Lee Johnston, twin brother of Leo Johnston, struggled to maintain his composure as he spoke about the man born just nine minutes before him -- someone he called the "most important person in my life."

"In his final moments . . . he did not give up. He fought, refusing to believe in any outcome but victory," Johnston said, before pausing briefly in front of his brother's portrait.

It was left to the man who was in charge of the fallen Mounties to say their sacrifice will give strength to those they leave behind.

Bill Sweeney, RCMP assistant commissioner in charge of Alberta, told the crowd that evil is a fact of life in this world and it is the duty of police to confront it.

"Evil would be victorious if our resolve, our determination to serve and protect, is irreparably shaken by this tragic loss," he said.

"While we may pause to mourn alongside Peter, Leo, Tony and Brock's families, let there be no mistake that our strength is found in the morality of our cause and we will prevail through this terrible test of faith."

Singer Ian Tyson's rendition of his melancholy song Four Strong Winds and Tom Jackson's take on Amazing Grace added a bittersweet tone to the service that was only surpassed by the mournful notes of the Last Post play by a Mountie bugler.

But the day was dominated by the heart-wrenching remembrances of family members and solemn RCMP traditions.

Hundreds of Mounties in their world-famous red serge tunics filled row upon row in the pavilion. Four Mounties placed black pillows with the slain officers' Stetsons on top of a traditional RCMP horse blanket just before the service started.

The service followed the stirring sight of a troop of RCMP on black horses leading thousands of Mounties marching eight abreast along a city thoroughfare.

People lined the parade route two-deep in bright sunshine, brushing away tears, sobbing or staring straight ahead.

The sombre mood was punctuated by the rhythmic clicking of boots on pavement, senior officers barking the cadence -- "Left. Right. Left. Right!"-- the steady thump of helicopters overhead and the mournful skirl of the bagpipes from the RCMP pipe band.

A rainbow of colours streamed by -- the navy blue of the Edmonton police, the green of the U.S. border patrol, the sky blue of air ambulance pilots.

Officers came to pay their respects from across Canada, from Ohio, New Hampshire, Alaska and from a host of other states. There were Parks Canada wardens, Calgary firefighters and Canadian Pacific Railway Police.

It was being called the largest memorial in the RCMP's history. Smaller services were being held as well across the country.

At the RCMP training depot in Regina, where the slain constables had recently graduated, about 300 cadets, instructors and support staff watched the service on a big TV screen in a darkened drill hall.

Training continued throughout the services with cadets stopping in to watch when they could.

"Today is a very sad day," said Sgt. Bob Bourget, a supervisor at the facility. "It has been a very sad week."

In Mayerthorpe, where the Mounties died, the streets were quiet.

Inside the high school, a few dozen students watched the televised service projected onto a wall in the gymnasium.