‘He wanted us to remember him smiling’

A Chelmsford ambulance station has been officially renamed in honour of Pte. Andrew Miller, who was killed while serving in Afghanistan in June 2010.

His mother, Wendy Miller, and his father, Raymond Ealdama, were on hand for the formal ceremony Nov. 15. Wendy Miller addressed the 100-strong crowd, recalling how determined her son was to serve overseas.

“He wanted nothing more than to go to Afghanistan to help people he didn’t even know,” she said, as many in the crowd wiped away tears. “Andrew was a true Canadian first-responder.”

Miller said her son was known for his broad smile that rarely left his face, and his dedication to serving Canada.

“He was the soldier, the medic, the son who was smiling all the time,” she said. “He wanted us to remember him smiling.”

She recalled the last time she had a private talk with her son, on May 9, 2010, just weeks before he was killed. She asked him if there was a phone number a mother could call to stop their sons from going to Afghanistan.

“He said, ‘No. And if there was, I would never give it to you,’ ” Miller said. “I knew I had to let him go to do the job he was trained to do. (But) as a mother, I want to tell you that you’re not supposed to have to bury your son.”

Jennifer Amyotte, commander of community health and professional standards for the city’s Emergency Services department, hosted the ceremony, and fought back tears during her remarks.

Miller went to Afghanistan “to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves,” Amyotte said. 

“What a huge sacrifice for a 21-year-old medic to make. This is the least we can do.”

In addition to Miller’s family and friends, several soldiers, police, ambulance and other emergency personnel were on hand for the ceremony. Politicians in attendance included MPs Claude Gravelle and Glenn Thibeault, MPP France Gelinas, Mayor Marianne Matichuk and Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume.

Gravelle said Miller’s memory will live on thanks to the ambulance station.

“It’s a tribute to a fine soldier and a good man,” he said.

Thibeault agreed, adding that while he never met Miller, the stories he’s heard about him paints the picture of a dedicated son and soldier.

“We’re honoured to remember him,” Thibeault said. “This allows us to remember him every day, not just on Remembrance Day.”

Gelinas said she’s impressed by how much Miller accomplished in his far too short lifetime

“He wanted to help people, and at such a young age, he was able to do that on many levels,” she said. “He was a young man that many of us could have learned from ... We won’t forget Pte. Miller.”

Matichuk highlighted the sacrifices Miller and the 158 Canadians who were killed in Afghanistan made, including five others in Sudbury.

“Their sacrifices were for us, and for future generations,” she said. “They will never be forgotten.

In a press release issued after the ceremony, Berthiaume said all members of council supported the idea as soon as it came before them.

"Council is proud to honour Pte. Miller, a young man who displayed such courage ad commitment to helping others."

Miller was serving in Afghanistan as a combat medic when he and a fellow medic, Master Corporal Kristal Giesebrecht, 34, of Wallaceburg, were killed by an improvised explosive device June 26, 2010.

Miller was following in his father's footsteps and joined the military at 17. His father, a sergeant with the Greater Sudbury Police Service, was part of Sudbury’s contribution to Canadian policing in Afghanistan. 

City councillors voted unanimously in September to remember Miller by naming the ambulance station in Chelmsford, where he was from, in his honour.