Love, loyalty and loss of our Digger Richard Atkinson
Gemma Jones and Ian McPhedran
The Daily Telegraph
February 04, 2011
"I MET this really amazing girl."
Corporal Richard "Rich" Atkinson had a shy "little boy" look on his face as he told his friend about meeting karate instructor and school teacher Dannielle Kitchen.
"He was cute, he had that cute little boy look on his face. He was so in love. I thought, 'This is the best thing.' They were perfect together. They couldn't wait for the wedding," his friend Stephanie Heazle- wood recalled.
Shortly before the 22-year-old was deployed to Afghanistan in October with the Darwin-based 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, Cpl Atkinson asked Ms Kitchen to marry him. The answer was "Yes".
His family said he was looking forward to starting a family.
But an insurgent bomb ended those dreams at 9.25am on Wednesday in a cold valley in Afghanistan, a long way from the balmy Darwin sunsets the couple enjoyed before he went to war.
One of his sapper mates from Darwin was badly wounded by the blast.
Ms Kitchen was yesterday devastated, along with his parents Dr Ross Atkinson, a Launceston GP, his wife Kate and their son James.
"We are just so sad," Mrs Atkinson said from the family's home in Tasmania.
Mr Atkinson said his son loved the army and had a real knack for adventure.
"He enjoyed being deployed," he said.
"He was just a lovely boy. He was funny. He loved playing sports. He was a much-loved son and a loved brother to James."
He was a family man who was very close to all of his relatives and was looking forward to coming home at the end of his tour about June to spend time with them in Tasmania.
The young sapper joined the army in 2007 and his natural leadership skills took him quickly through the ranks.
"He was a dedicated soldier with career aspirations," his family said.
"He shared a strong mateship with those he left behind in Afghanistan and all his mates in Australia. He will be missed by all and not a day will go by that he won't be thought of."
Mr Atkinson said the family was in shock and still battling to come to terms with their loss.
"We're just getting our heads around that he's not coming back. It's hard. It's all pretty unreal," he said.
Acting Defence Chief Lieutenant-General David Hurley said it was unclear whether the blast had been remotely detonated, but he conceded the area had become a "hot spot" for Australian soldiers.
"It's a difficult area for us, yes," he said yesterday.
Cpl Atkinson was the 22nd Australian soldier to die in the bloody war in Afghanistan.
Australia: Corporal Richard Edward Atkinson killed in Afghanistan. Video
