Michelle Lang now has a body of water named after her.
The former Prince George newspaper reporter, killed by a roadside bomb on Dec. 30, 2009 in Afghanistan, has been honoured by the Province of Saskatchewan. Under their GeoMemorial Commemorative Naming Program, a spot on the shoreline of Burnett Lake (southwest of Tisdale, northeast of Naicam) is now forever called Lang Bay.
Lang was, after her time in Prince George, a reporter for the Moose Jaw Times Herald then the Regina Leader Post before moving to Alberta. It was during her time with the Calgary Herald that she accepted a correspondent assignment imbedded with Canadian troops in Kandahar province.
According to media reports from the time of the incident, Lang was riding with troops in a military convoy. She was positioned in an armoured vehicle but it was unable to withstand the force of the explosion. Four soldiers were killed alongside her and several more personnel were injured.
Lang was one of eight people immortalized by the latest round of GeoMemorial naming.
Saskatchewan's Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Mark Docherty said, "The names we bestow on Saskatchewan's geographic features reflect those who have made a difference to our province. They are the names of those who have enriched the quality of life enjoyed by citizens of the past, present and future. These individuals have helped make Saskatchewan the place it is today and our government is proud to recognize them through the GeoMemorial Program."
The director of the province's Heritage Conservation Branch - the department that administrates the program - said Lang was indeed a special case.
"While our comment program tends to focus on armed forces personnel, as well as positions like police and firefighters, there is a category for prominent individuals," said Carlos Germann. "She did sort of challenge the advisory board, based only on being a journalist, but we noted Miss Lang was included on the Saskatchewan War Memorial due to the nature of her work and how that led to the way she died. She is the only civilian to be recognized on that memorial. So all that accumulated, and we are happy to have taken that step."
Almost all fallen service men and women with connection to Saskatchewan have now been so honoured by the program. It is, said Germann, one of his most favourite professional duties, because of the pride it instills in the families touched.
The places named for prominent Saskatchewan residents are chosen at random from a list of geographic features that have no other commonly known titles. Also, said Germann, it is possible for loved ones to suggest a particular place that had special meaning to the one being honoured, so long as it does not conflict with some prior name for that place.
Since its inception in 1947, the program has named approximately 4,000 geographic features across Saskatchewan.
