DND Photo 8 WING TRENTON: A somber repatriation ceremony took place on the airfield tarmac at 8 Wing Trenton, Monday, when the body of Orangeville resident Cpl Matthew McCully was returned to Canada from Afghanistan. Valerie McGrady, mother of fallen soldier Cpl. Matthew McCully, knew the news wasn't good when a car pulled into her driveway last Friday morning around 6:30 a.m. and two officials from the military knocked on her front door.

"I was expecting to be told he had been hurt or something," she said. "But I knew it was going to be bad."

Cpl. McCully, who grew up in Orangeville and was known in town as Matthew McGrady, was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when he was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) during Operation Hoover Friday, becoming Canada's 55th soldier to die in combat there since 2002.

"I am still numb. It hasn't really hit me yet," Ms. McGrady said in a telephone interview Monday. She describes her 25-year-old eldest of three children as a very caring and kind person who always looked out for and was protective of his younger siblings.

As a student, Cpl. McCully attended St. Peter School and both Robert F. Hall Catholic High School and Orangeville District Secondary School.

In his last year of high school at ODSS he became interested in the military through the co-op program when he began working with the Lorne Scots (Scottish) regiment, a Canadian Forces reserve unit.

"As a kid he was both a cub and boy scout and then he got into the reserves in high school and from then on it was all about the military," Ms. McGrady said. "After he spent some time in the reserves he made up his mind and joined the regular service. That was about five years ago."

MWO Alexander McKelvey, a training officer with the Lorne Scots, Peel Dufferin Regiment said Cpl. McCully was with the administ rative unit as a supply technician from Feb. 12, 2001, until August 7, 2002, before he took a transfer into the regular service which also included an occupational change from Supply Tech to a Signal Operator.

"The soldiers who knew him here said he was well-liked, wellrespected and he was a conscientious soldier," said MWO McKelvey.

Ms. McGrady says her son became ingrained in the military life appreciating the strong sense of comradeship.

"The military became his extended family," she said adding that he excelled in his job as a Signaller receiving an accelerated promotion to his currently held rank of corporal.

"He told me that it was special, that not a lot of people get an accelerated promotion," his mother said. "He was recognized for his work ethic and enthusiasm."

Ms. McGrady said her son's choice in the signals trade surprised her because as a young boy he was always good with his hands and she thought he might become a mechanic as an adult.

" W e were all very surp rised when he told us about his job but he absolutely loved it," she said.

Recounting her son's first deployment to Kabul two years ago, Ms. McGrady says it was a real eye-opener for him.

"He had never seen things like he saw in Afghanistan," she said. "He came home with a real appreciation for all that we have in Canada."

Ms. McGrady says she hadn't seen her son since last summer and an opportunity was missed at Christmas time to visit because of his schedule.

He was deployed in February as part of Canada's Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team whose mission is to train Afghan soldiers to fight as an organized unit.

His mother had heard from him infrequently since February but was receiving news through his best friend in Petawawa.

"He died doing what he loved," she said. "I truly believe that."

Cpl. McCully, who worked for 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group Headquarters and Signals Squadron stationed at CFB Petawawa, was taking part in a large offensive in Afghanistan where Afghan troops were moving forward and clearing some areas to ensure that no Taliban were present.

At about 8 a.m. Kandahar time last Friday, the incident that killed Cpl McCully and injured another Canadian soldier and an Afghan interpreter occurred about 35 kilometres west of Kandahar, in the Zhari district in the early stages of the offensive attack.

A military funeral with full honours was scheduled for 11 a.m. today (Thursday) at Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church, with a reception to follow at the Orangeville Legion Hall. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery, and a tree will be planted in memory of Matthew at the Island Lake Conservation Area.

The family has asked for donations to be made to the Boy Scouts of Canada.