Army Cpl. Darby T. Morin

Remember Our Heroes

Army Cpl. Darby T. Morin, 25, of Victoria, Canada

Cpl. Morin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Aug. 22, 2009 in Logar Province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover.

The Globe and Mail -- A fallen soldier from Saskatchewan's Big River First Nation will be remembered as a brave role model and loving father.

United States Army Sergeant Darby Morin, 25, died early Saturday morning when the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in lost control, causing a rollover near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Heavy fog blanketed the road at the time of the crash. Sgt. Morin was wearing his seatbelt, but was unconscious when military medics arrived on scene.

Sgt. Morin was the nephew of Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Vice-Chief Lyle Whitefish.

Mr. Whitefish, reached on his cellphone in Delaware on Monday afternoon, was preparing for Sgt. Morin's body to arrive back in the United States at the Dover Air Force Base.

"You never think it would happen," Mr. Whitefish said. "Of course he was at risk every day, but a lot of young men and women come home. Unfortunately, others don't, and he was one that didn't."

Sgt. Morin and his wife, Veronica, had two sons, Christian, 3, and Blue Sky, 19 months.

"He was a great father and he loved his wife and his children," Mr. Whitefish said. "He was very compassionate."

Sgt. Morin's decision to enlist in the U.S. Army immediately after graduating from Big River First Nation High School came from an admiration for its advanced technology, according to his uncle.

Sgt. Morin spent four years stationed at Fort Eustis, Va., before being transferred to Fort Drum, N.Y., in April, 2008.

In December he was deployed to the Charkh District in Logar Province, Afghanistan.

"He wanted to be a role model; he wanted to show kids they could be much more than being in a gang or whatever," Mr. Whitefish said.

The nuclear, biological and chemical non-commissioned officer also served as the unofficial barber amongst the troops.

Mr. Whitefish remembered that when Sgt. Morin came home for a visit, the young men in the area would line up to get their hair cut just like his.

Army Cpl. Darby T. Morin was killed in action on 8/22/09.