Ceremony to honour Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent to be held today - Action News
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Ottawa

Ceremony to honour Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent to be held today

A ceremonial service to commemorate the Parliament Hill shooting and the lives of two soldiers killed on home soil last October is set to take place at the National War Memorial this morning.

Public event at National War Memorial to begin at 11 a.m. ET today

Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, left, and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent were killed within days of each other in October 2014. (Canadian Press)

A ceremonial service to commemorate the Parliament Hill shooting and the lives of two soldiers killed on their home soil last October is set to take place at the National War Memorial this morning.

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper,prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau, Gov.Gen.David Johnston and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, as well as members of the public and military,will gather around the granite arch of the memorial to pay tribute.

Pat McDonnell, the interim sergeant-at-arms, and the RCMP'sMichaelDuheme,head of the newly createdParliamentary Protective Service, will also attend.

The ceremony will takeplace one year to the day afterCpl. Nathan Cirillo, 24,was shot in the back three times while standing guard at the memorial, the first event in a five-minute attackduring whichtheshooter stormed Parliament Hill's Centre Block.

The ceremony will also commemorateWarrant Officer Patrice Vincent, a 53-year-old Canadian Forces memberwho was purposefullyrun down in a hit-and-run attack in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.,just two days before Cirillo was slain.

The families of the two soldiers are expected toattend the ceremony and Harper is expected tolay a wreath at the memorial.

The ceremony will include the flyby ofCF-18 Hornets in "missing man" formationat 11:20 a.m., a 21-gun salute by the30th Field Artillery Regimentand a speech by Gov. Gen. David Johnston.

A 200-person marching contingent of soldiers and aCanadian Armed Forces band will also take part in the ceremony.

Later Thursday, at 1 p.m., the Parliamentary Protective Servicewill hold a private ceremony in the House of Commons.Samearn Son, a guard who was shot in the leg as he struggled with the gunman,is expected to attend. He continues to work on Parliament Hill.

Soldiers killed by men with extremist views

Cirillo and Vincentwere both victims ofmen who heldextremist views.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who shot Cirillo, was himself shotto death inside Centre Block. Minutes before the shootinghe recorded a video message on a cellphone, saying his actions wereretaliation againstCanadian military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Martin Couture-Rouleau, who drove his car into two soldiers andkilledVincent, was shot to death by police two days later.

Couture-Rouleau wasa Muslim convertwho made increasingly radical statementson social media and was on an RCMP watch list.