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This Is How We Should Remember Nathan Cirillo (PHOTOS)

This Is How We Should Remember Nathan Cirillo

It was just a regular Sunday for Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. He stood tall before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, unmoved by a photographer snapping his picture. Little did he know that he would soon bring a nation together in mourning.

The moving images were captured by professional photographer Guillaume Hache. He was on a stroll past the the War Memorial in Ottawa on Sunday when he noticed a changing of the guards.

"Without really knowing what was going to be the fate of this man I took his portrait," Hache told HuffPost Canada. "I just don't know how to feel about it."

Hache said the photos didn't necessarily feel like anything special at the time.

"The ceremony at the Memorial that day looked like something you would see normally in Ottawa before Remembrance Day."

The photos were posted on Reddit by a friend, who Hache stresses incorrectly labeled them as taken on Wednesday.

This photo, showing Cirillo with his close friend and comrade-in-arms Branden Stevenson, was taken on Wednesday -- just minutes before the attack that killed the Hamilton-based reservist and father of a young son.

Hache is glad the photos are getting attention -- and for humble reasons.

"I'd rather see these photos of Cpl. Cirillo standing proud than everything else I've seen in the media since yesterday."

Related on HuffPost:

New York Times

#OttawaStrong

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