Editor's note: Edmonton Sun city editor Nicole Bergot took a weeklong tour of Afghanistan with the military late last month. The Joint Task Force tour offered Bergot and Edmonton Sun photographer Jason Franson an inside look at the Canadian government's current mission in Afghanistan on the heels of President Hamid Karzai's controversial election win.

I never met Michelle Lang, but the death of the fellow journalist hits hard.

As I express my deepest sympathies to those who knew and loved her, I take some comfort in knowing she would have been in her element, immersed in that war zone and sending rich and powerful stories to her readers.

Having just returned from Kandahar Airfield last month, I know the thrill of saying yes to this assignment. Once on the ground, I felt absolutely no fear of death, only exhilaration at the opportunity to share stories from the battlefield.

My greatest fear, next to being unable to file daily, was that we would not make it outside the wire, to the provincial reconstruction zones, into Kandahar city as Michelle had.

Day after day, our small group of reporters was disheartened to learn a military chopper for us would be unavailable due to ongoing priority operations -- we were priority 10. Even priority fours were not getting chopper access.

The closest to outside the wire we experienced was a bumpy road trip to Camp Hero, where the Afghan National Army headquarters is situated, on the edge of the 22,000-strong airfield base.

There we were blessed to have stumbled across hundreds of Afghan soldiers partaking in an Eid ceremony, a Muslim holy time.

As so many Afghan soldiers crowded close to me to snap pictures and investigate my appearance, again I felt no fear, only privileged to be so lucky to record this chance occurrence.

Because our provincial reconstruction team visits kept falling through, we also got a rare glimpse inside the hospital at the airfield to see Canadian soldiers alongside NATO counterparts saving lives of Afghan children torn up by landmines and IEDs.

As an embedded journalist there for at least six weeks, Michelle would have had a higher level of security clearance, permitting her to travel more freely with the troops.

Michelle died alongside our soldiers, who believe so very much that we are making a difference for the Afghan people, for the future stability of world affairs. Those soldiers and their commanding officers would have been so excited to have her there, to show her both what they accomplish and endure daily.

Commanding officers want nothing more for visiting writers than to take them to the heart of the action.

Michelle, your words will survive forever. We will not forget what you have given us.

NICOLE.BERGOT@SUNMEDIA.CA