Court proceedings are set to begin soon for the two American pilots involved in the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan last spring. The bombing killed four Canadian soldiers and seriously injured another eight.

Now, for the first time on Canadian television, the mother of one of those pilots has spoken out.

Joan Schmidt's son, Harry Schmidt, along with fellow
pilot, Maj. William Umbach, are each charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

The pilots could each face 64 years in prison if convicted of the involuntary manslaughter, dereliction of duty and assault charges that have been recommended. They could also be dishonorably discharged and lose all pay and allowances.

Schmidt says her son and her family have suffered much since April 17, 2002. She says her son is carrying a tremendous burden knowing that he caused the deaths of four innocent soldiers.

"There's a loss of sleep, and we're just functioning in a world that is going on around us, but we're not part of it. And there's a lot of sadness," Schmidt told Canada AM's Lisa LaFlamme.

Schmidt says she understands that many Canadians are angry about the incident and want answers and someone held accountable.

"I also want the people who are responsible held accountable for this," Schmidt says. "I want there to be a fair and just hearing where all the facts are presented, so the world would know what actually happened that night."

The initial military investigations found that Maj. Schmidt and Maj. Umbach were flying their F-16 over land where, unbeknownst to them, Canadian soldiers were holding live fire exercises. Schmidt requested permission to attack the flashes which he assumed was enemy fire against them.

Schmidt was ordered to hold fire. But four minutes after seeing the ground fire, he invoked self-defence and dropped a 225-kilogram laser-guided bomb on the soldiers.

Initial evidence indicated the pilots were not briefed about the training exercise and that there were conflicting messages about whether they could fire. Schmidt's mother has said publicly in the past that she believes the U.S. military is using her son as a scapegoat in the incident and are not accepting responsibility for the breakdown in communication.

"I think there was a lot of information that wasn't passed down to the pilots -- information that the Canadians gave to the Americans but that wasn't passed down to the pilots. And I think the Air Force is not trying to find out where the communication broke down. They're using the lowest people on the totem pole -- my son and Maj.
Umbach -- instead of looking into why this happened."

Charles Gittins, the lawyer for Schmidt, also claims the pilots are unfairly being singled out while senior U.S. military officials evade responsibility for the tragedy. Neither Schmidt nor Umbach have publicly commented on the charges against them.

Schmidt says if she were able to meet one of the mothers of the four soldiers who died, "I would tell her I'm very sorry for the loss of your son. I think that they were honourable men. They were serving their country. They should have never been put in harm's way."