KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - More than 2,000 coalition troops marshalled in the brisk Afghan air this morning and stood at attention as Sergeant Jason Boyes' coffin was solemnly placed aboard a waiting military transport.
A lone piper, Captain Ludger Hacault, followed behind the eight pallbearers, the sorrowful peal of Amazing Grace resonating across the expansive airstrip at Kandahar Airfield.
Battle group chaplain Captain Darren Persaud asked the assembly to help ease the grief of Boyes' wife, Alison, and his daughter, Mackenzie.
Thirty-two-year-old Boyes, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba, was killed by an explosive device near Zangabad, 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Corbould, commander of the Patricia's battle group, described Boyes as a natural soldier and a born leader who was an invaluable member of his battalion.
