Political leaders need to reflect carefully on the growing cost of war in Afghanistan, a bishop said at a soldier’s funeral today.
Lieutenant Neal Turkington (26) from Northern Ireland, was serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand province, when he was killed by a renegade Afghan soldier last month.
Colleagues, friends and family of Lt Turkington gathered at St Mark's Church of Ireland in Portadown, Co Armagh, today.
A total of 328 military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan and Bishop David Chillingworth said it had been a real sacrifice of young men and women.
"He became the soldier who committed himself in the service of his country and in the cause of freedom and peace - the trusted comrade who supported and inspired others," he said.
"We and our political leaders should reflect very carefully on all of this, on the cost and the sacrifice of young men and women who serve on our behalf, as we strive to build peace in Afghanistan and across the world."
Among those attending the church today were Major Andrew Todd, officer commanding rear party 1 Royal Gurkha Rifles; Colonel Gyanendra Rayamajhi, military attache from the embassy of Nepal in London; senior Gurkha representative Sean Crane; and Colonel of the Brigade of Gurkhas Major David Robinson.
The coffin was carried into the church by a group of his colleagues. It had his cap and a belt and Gurkha knife on top.
St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane Bishop Chillingworth was a rector in Portadown and knew the Turkington family well.
"I can see in the determination and the resolution of the soldier the child and the teenager I knew," he said.
"There was so much to Neal - he pushed the boundaries, he thought deeply and he questioned."
The other two soldiers killed in the attack on July 13th were Major James Joshua Bowman, from Wiltshire, and Corporal Arjun Purja Pun, from Nepal. They also served in 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles. Four soldiers were injured in the attack.
Family members at today’s service in Portadown included Lt Turkington’s parents, Ivor and Marie, and siblings, Gareth and Cathy. Upper Bann DUP MP David Simpson was also among the mourners.
PA