A Remembrance Day story
By Max Winkelman
Katrina Blain and her daughter, Vienna Bason, live in Lone Butte but for Remembrance Day, they drive to Abbotsford every year.
Their husband and father, Colin Bason, died in 2007 when Vienna was still an infant. Katrina says serving in the military was hugely important to him.
“I know it was his life. It was a huge thing [to him]. He was a huge history buff he loved all things history and he went over to Bosnia before he went to Afghanistan, he served there. Then, he was sent to Afghanistan and ended up being killed there six weeks before he was due to come home.”
He had great pride in his country and serving, she says.
“When I found out I was pregnant, he talked about not going and I think there would have been a lot of regret for him if he hadn’t been able to go.”
He volunteered for just about everything, she says.
“He took a demotion from Master Corporal to Corporal to go on tour to Afghanistan.”
Life changed for her and her daughter when they found out he died, she says.
“It was hard when he went, being a single first-time mom. But I stayed with my parents, so we were okay there. Then the morning that I was woken up I had soldiers standing at my door waiting to tell me that he’d died. Pretty much felt like the world was crashing down. Vienna was only about five months old.”
Vienna grew up without her dad and Katrina says this year has been very impactful for her.
“She’s feeling it. She’s feeling the loss of her dad and understanding the realities of war.”
Max Winkelman 