Sapper Brian Collier - A True Humanitarian

Born: 1986

Died in Action: July 20, 2010

Age: 24

Born in Toronto in 1986 and raised in Bradford, ON, Sapper Collier was a member of 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, based in Edmonton.

After graduating from Bradford District High School, Brian worked for a while before joining the Canadian Forces in 2007. He was posted to 1 Combat Engineer Regiment in November 2008 after completing his basic Combat Engineering training at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering and was on his first deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed by an IED.

Sapper Collier had survived a previous IED explosion within his first three weeks of deployment and returned back to tour shortly after his recovery.

His Task Force commander, Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, is quoted as saying that “Brian was an enthusiast of fine automobiles, and loved to spend time with his Audi. … [he was] always quick to smile [and] had an easygoing nature and a great sense of humour.”

As mentioned in the above quote, Brian was an automobile enthusiast, he loved the outdoors, and was a humanitarian at heart. He had a lot of pride for his country and love for his family.

Sister Jennine, named after a character in Brian’s favorite movie growing up - Ghostbusters, remembers the day they got the news. “I was overwhelmed with a home filled with family, friends, and strangers, not to mention news stations lined up outside of my house with their cameras. We had experienced sympathy from the entire country that coming week. We received letters from across the country. We even got letters and gifts of thanks from people in the United States.

Driving down the highway of heroes when Brian finally landed back on home soil was a life-changing experience. Knowing how proud Canadians are of my older brother was outstanding. I have never been so proud of anyone in my life. He laid his life down for not only his own country, but for the children of Afghanistan.”