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8 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, January 20, 2011 Tired of being a number at the bank? Get the Personal Service you Deserve! Call 416.786.8395 www.easyapproval.ca FSCO#M10001264 Local soldier earns commendation By TED BROWN Staff Writer In September 2008, Georgetown native Private Mike McNeilly began his eightmonth tour of duty in Afghanistan, stationed at Camp Nathan Smith, in Kandahar City, Afghanistan. Only a month later, the then 21-year-old was part of a joint Canadian-Afghan patrol that was ambushed by insurgents. McNeilly immediately determined where the firing was coming from, and returned fire with a C6 machine gun, holding the enemy at bay while his sergeant was able to co-ordinate a fighting withdrawal for the group of about 20 soldiers, both Canadian and Afghan, and some advisors, to get them to a safe area, about 2.5 km away. "It was like a dream world," said McNeilly. "All I heard was a quick burst, like a `pop, pop, pop', and I thought `Really? Is this really happening?' Then all of a sudden, I realized I had to do something, and I returned fire." The fight lasted about an hour, as McNeilly's patrol executed a fighting withdrawal, engaging the enemy while trying to break contact with them. "We were trying to pull our unit back, but the enemy kept trying to come up on either side of us trying to flank us," continued McNeilly, "About a kilometre from where we initially made contact, we finally broke contact and got back to the strong point." It had been pretty heavy fighting, but the fight was over, McNeilly carried on with his tour, and in April 2009, returned to CFB Gagetown, N.B., where he is now with Golf Company. Last month, after working an all-night assignment on his `reccy' (reconnaissance) course, McNeilly came in and was told to report to his warrant officer, then to the commander. "I figured I must be in trouble," said McNeilly, "It was 5:30 in the morning, and I had to report to my warrant? All I could ask myself was, `What did I do?'" Instead, he was presented with a Commander's Commendation for his actions during that October 2008 firefight. In addition, McNeilly's sergeant, Troy Woods of Quebec, received a similar recognition. McNeilly was recently home for Christmas, and his parents, Gord and Fran, were bursting with pride. "I'm so proud of him," said mom Fran. "He grew up here in town, all his family lives here, and I'm so proud of what he's accomplished." Gord is equally impressed. "It (Afghanistan) is quite dangerous, and when Mike was deployed, I wasn't comfortable," said Gord. "But I had faith in his training, he came through it well and I'm so proud of what he accomplished. Whenever we hear of a Canadian soldier being killed in Afghanistan, I always worry, and hope it's not our son." McNeilly is now back with the MidHeadquarter platoon at CFB Gagetown, working as the O/C's gunner and signalman. Peter Motem HEARING SCIENCES Two ears are better than one Save 20% off the price of your second hearing instrument (up to a $250 value) for a limited time only until January 31, 2011! Hearing research shows that listening with two ears greatly improves how well you can distinguish speech in a noisy area. It also improves the ability to locate the direction of a sound and provides a richer, more pleasant and more natural speech quality. We are born with 2 ears for a reason! Hear the difference for yourself! Audiology and Hearing Aid Centre FOR A LIMITED TIME, WHEN YOU PURCHASE A SET OF HEARING INSTRUMENTS, YOU WILL SAVE 20% OFF THE SECOND INSTRUMENT (UP TO A $250 VALUE!) Bring in this ad to receive this special offer until January 31, 2011 only. Age 55+ GEORGETOWN 905-877-0099 211 Guelph St., Suite 1 (in the M&M plaza, across from Winners) When you cheer on our Raiders this Saturday night, a dollar from every single ticket sold will be donated to Canadian Tire Jumpstart to help local kids get in the game. SATURDAY, JANUARY 22nd 7:00 PM GEORGETOWN RAIDERS vs MISSISSAUGA CHARGERS visit www.georgetownraidersjra.com for more information