Tereza Verenca, Castanet Media, Kamloops
Canadian flags have started to pop up in windows and in doorways across Kamloops, as a salute to the late Cpt. Jennifer Casey and the Canadian Forces Snowbirds.
Casey was killed Sunday, May 17, when the jet she was in crashed into a Glenview Avenue home just seconds after taking off from Kamloops Airport. The plane's pilot, Cpt. Richard MacDougall, was taken to Royal Inland Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Brock resident Paolo Caputo wanted to do something for the Snowbirds, and thought displaying the Canadian flag would be a nice gesture. He's inviting all Canadians to do the same.
"Hang it on the fence, on your porch, on the window, from your roof," he tells Castanet. "However, that being said, if you have one on a pole, please put it to half-mast out of respect of a fallen soldier."
Caputo's neighbour, Coun. Bill Sarai, followed suit.
"It's our way of initially showing our solidarity with the Snowbirds and the rest of Canada," the councillor says. "Let's just show the rest of Canada that we're with them, we're grieving with them, we'll stand with them, we're going to pray for the recovery of the pilot in the hospital."
Sarai reiterated Mayor Ken Christian's remarks from Sunday afternoon, that the tragedy has shaken up the neighbourhood to its core.
