ZR
04-25-2017, 06:55 AM
TRENTON - It’s all about service to their country, the fallen and their families.
For three weeks, Kerri Tadeu, retired master corporal Collin Fitzgerald and Cpl. Nick Kerr have been serving the best way they can.
The trio, who made Kingston their base for the clean-up project, have been getting up at 4 a.m. and cleaning all the on- and off-ramps along the 172-kilometre stretch of the Highway of Heroes (Hwy. 401) from Trenton to Keele St.
Tadeu, 38, a psychiatric nurse from Kingston, is the co-founder of SerViCe — Soldier, Veteran and Civilian — and serves as the civilian. Fitzgerald, 38, of Kingston, serves as the veteran and Kerr, 35, a native of Victoria, B.C., is currently a soldier.
Fitzgerald was one of the first recipients of the Medal of Military Valour for his actions on May 24, 2006 during a enemy ambush in Afghanistan.
Fitzgerald repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire by entering a burning military vehicle that had been damaged from an improvised explosive device. Fitzgerald successfully drove the vehicle off the road allowing the others in the convoy to escape the ambush.
Tadeu lost a friend — Maj. Michelle Knight-Mendes — who died while serving in Afghanistan in 2009.
“I received an education about the service and sacrifice of our fallen,” said Tadeu.
Last November, the three led an initiative to adopt a 1.2-kilometre stretch of the Highway of Heroes, near Knight-Mendes’ hometown of Grafton — 12 kilometres east of Cobourg.
“We then had the idea to adopt the entire 172 kilometres of the Highway of Heroes to have the 158 fallen remembered with individual signs as well as have the four civilians that were killed in Afghanistan with four big signs.”
Tadeu said SerViCe latched on to the Ministry of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program.
The three had meetings with ministry representatives and people from other organizations before the papers were signed and the adoption became official.
For 21-days Tadeu, Fitzgerald and Kerr spent 11 1/2 hours a day cleaning ramps along the designated section of highway. The trio had no idea what they were getting into.
“We had one experience cleaning a portion of the Highway of Heroes which was the area at Grafton. But we were completely unprepared for the garbage that we found along the Highway of Heroes.”
The trio collected 389 bags of garbage, including: four large garbage bags of empty alcohol bottles, 44 needles, vials appearing to be heroin, poppies, Canadian flags, close to $235, bags of jewellery, seven license plates, at least 700 bottles of urine, three drivers licences, four health cards and one 9-mm handgun which was turned over to Toronto Police.
The also encountered wildlife including a beaver, a coyote, a marmot, a nesting Canada goose and mice.
For three weeks, Kerri Tadeu, retired master corporal Collin Fitzgerald and Cpl. Nick Kerr have been serving the best way they can.
The trio, who made Kingston their base for the clean-up project, have been getting up at 4 a.m. and cleaning all the on- and off-ramps along the 172-kilometre stretch of the Highway of Heroes (Hwy. 401) from Trenton to Keele St.
Tadeu, 38, a psychiatric nurse from Kingston, is the co-founder of SerViCe — Soldier, Veteran and Civilian — and serves as the civilian. Fitzgerald, 38, of Kingston, serves as the veteran and Kerr, 35, a native of Victoria, B.C., is currently a soldier.
Fitzgerald was one of the first recipients of the Medal of Military Valour for his actions on May 24, 2006 during a enemy ambush in Afghanistan.
Fitzgerald repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire by entering a burning military vehicle that had been damaged from an improvised explosive device. Fitzgerald successfully drove the vehicle off the road allowing the others in the convoy to escape the ambush.
Tadeu lost a friend — Maj. Michelle Knight-Mendes — who died while serving in Afghanistan in 2009.
“I received an education about the service and sacrifice of our fallen,” said Tadeu.
Last November, the three led an initiative to adopt a 1.2-kilometre stretch of the Highway of Heroes, near Knight-Mendes’ hometown of Grafton — 12 kilometres east of Cobourg.
“We then had the idea to adopt the entire 172 kilometres of the Highway of Heroes to have the 158 fallen remembered with individual signs as well as have the four civilians that were killed in Afghanistan with four big signs.”
Tadeu said SerViCe latched on to the Ministry of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program.
The three had meetings with ministry representatives and people from other organizations before the papers were signed and the adoption became official.
For 21-days Tadeu, Fitzgerald and Kerr spent 11 1/2 hours a day cleaning ramps along the designated section of highway. The trio had no idea what they were getting into.
“We had one experience cleaning a portion of the Highway of Heroes which was the area at Grafton. But we were completely unprepared for the garbage that we found along the Highway of Heroes.”
The trio collected 389 bags of garbage, including: four large garbage bags of empty alcohol bottles, 44 needles, vials appearing to be heroin, poppies, Canadian flags, close to $235, bags of jewellery, seven license plates, at least 700 bottles of urine, three drivers licences, four health cards and one 9-mm handgun which was turned over to Toronto Police.
The also encountered wildlife including a beaver, a coyote, a marmot, a nesting Canada goose and mice.