Family members of the gallant soldiers couldn’t help but break down as the country’s heroes were flown back. (Photo credit: Roderick Ahimbazwe)
The bodies of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) soldiers killed in the line of duty in Somalia on Sunday were flown back home Wednesday afternoon.
The plane carrying the remains of the 12 fallen soldiers killed on mission in Mogadishu touched down at the military airbase in Entebbe at around 2.35pm local time.
They were received by deputy Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Lt. Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi.
The UPDF flag was flown at half-mast in mourning of the beloved countrymen as the UPDF band played moving tunes.
A cloud of gloom hang heavily over the airbase as the bodies, carried in Uganda flag-draped freezers, were delicately loaded off the plane and placed on top of trolleys by army officers.
A country in mourning of its gallant soldiers watched on local television as the 12 bodies were trolleyed on the tarmac onto awaiting UPDF funeral vans before being driven off to Bombo Military Hospital.
Families of the departed soldiers were at the airbase to see their fallen loved ones back home. Understandably, most of them couldn’t hold back the tears.