…says father of army Lance Corporal killed in explosion

By Wendella Davidson
THE late Lance/Corporal, Tooney O’Sulvan Harry Peneux, 28, one of the three Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldiers who died following an explosion on Thursday at Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri, had dreams of one day emulating the achievements of a close family-friend who is an officer in the army.

The explosion, which occurred around 09:00 hrs, also claimed the lives of L/Cpls Kevon Nicholson, 23, and Private Shaqueel De Heart. Sergeant Quincy Threlfall, 43, of Hopetown, West Coast Berbice and Lance Corporal Paul Peters, 29, all hailing from villages in Berbice, were injured during the incident.

Peneux hailed from the Amerindian community of Orealla, Corentyne River and is the “baby” of five children born to Laddy Peneux, 67, and his wife `Alice, 66. His surviving siblings are Judette, who resides in Paris, France; Burly of French Guiana; Rixon of East Bank Demerara and Turan, who lives in Orealla.

According to the father, he is still trying to grapple with the death of his son whom he described as “very willing, agile and respectful”, knowing that he was not sick. “I spoke with him up to yesterday (Wednesday); he sent some money home for his mother and I had to go to Corriverton to collect it, and he called to find out if I did. Is like I can still hear his last words of ‘okay dad, take care’, before he hung up,” the father recalled.

The father said his only daughter told him that her brother had called her just hours before the explosion and the conversation was normal as he enquired about her well-being, how is she coping with COVID-19 and when she planned to come home. The late Peneux, prior to becoming a soldier, attended the Orealla Primary School, Tagore Secondary and Upper Corentyne Training Centre, where he graduated as an agricultural mechanic. He subsequently migrated to Suriname where he spent about three years, the father added.

In an evidently emotional tone, the elder Peneux remembered that when his son enlisted in the GDF on March 3, 2015, it was his second attempt at becoming a soldier, having missed out at his first try because he did not possess some key documents. “Last year when he was promoted to Lance Corporal, he was so happy and then is when he told me that he will work hard to become an officer, like (the family friend).

Also speaking lovingly of his brother, whom he last saw on Wednesday morning, was Rixon. According to him, Tooney, who would usually stay at his home whenever he is off duty, had told him that his boss had called for him to go into work. “My brother and I were very close, he was my `backbrace’, he worked with me in the goldfields before he joined the army. He was everything you could expect of a brother, he was never selfish, he looked out for everyone and he took care of his mother.”

“It was just the other day he sent money for her. On Tuesday, we were all together– he, the family friend, who is in the GDF and I. I am really going to miss him,“ he concluded.