Remembering Trooper Brian Good

During the 14 years of the Afghan Conflict, 158 soldiers of the Canadian Armed Forces were killed in action. One of these soldiers was Trooper Brian Good, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. He is one of the many soldiers recognized by the “They Too Shall Remember” project.

It was a cold day in early January 2009 when Good’s family received the chilling news that the trooper had been killed by a roadside bomb in northern Kandahar.

“I dropped to my knees, and that was it…He took a part of me with him, and I feel that today,” said Brian’s brother Steven Good in an interview with the founders of the “They Too Shall Remember” project.

The two brothers grew up thick as thieves in the Britannia area of Ottawa. The pair would spend their days playing outside and Brian would often serve as a guinea pig for new games they were trying.

Good met his future wife Sandra in a night club in 1984. The two were married five years later. Sandra and Brian were the proud parents of two girls.

Steven recalls his brother Brian always had an interest in the army, collecting books and artifacts. Good finally decided to join the military at the age of 40. He was posted to Petawawa and trained to drive Light Armour Vehicles (LAV) in the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

A few years after joining, Good announced to his family that he was being deployed to Afghanistan. The news did not sit well with his daughters.

“So he explained to them why he was going over there he said, ‘I’m going over there so that little girls can go to school just like you do every day and helping them to have that opportunity.’ Maybe once they are older they can look back and realize what he was doing but they weren’t happy,” said Sandra, Good’s wife.

It was on Jan. 7, 2009 when an improvised explosive device detonated near the armoured vehicle in which Good was travelling. Good was killed, he was 42 years old.

Three others were wounded in the blast.

Steven recalls that people were lining all the bridges and passes to pay their respects when his brother was being taken to the coroner’s office in Toronto from Trenton.

Ultimately Trooper Good was laid to rest at Beechwood Cemetery.

Later that same year, the City of Ottawa recognized their hometown hero with a vigil. The City also dedicated a street named Brian Good.