The man was among hundreds of soldiers to salute Trooper Richard Renaud, a 26-year-old with the 12e Regiment blinde du Canada, who died early Tuesday in the third roadside bomb explosion in as many days against Canadians.
"In an environment like this in Afghanistan, we can't escape the suffering caused when our brothers in arms loses a life," Padre Pierre Bergeron said before Renaud's flag-draped casket was carefully loaded onto a Hercules C-130 as a lone piper played Amazing Grace.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out first to his young wife and his family who are so distressed by the death of Richard."
Renaud was travelling in a light armoured Coyote vehicle when the blast occurred around 7:15 a.m. in the Arghandab district, about 10 kilometres north of Kandahar city.
Renaud, who lived in the Quebec City area, is survived by his pregnant wife, his four-year-old stepson, his parents and sister.
He and three other soldiers were conducting a reconnaissance patrol when the explosion happened.
This marks the 77th time a Canadian soldier has died in Afghanistan since 2002. It came exactly two years after Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry was killed in a suicide bombing near Kandahar on Jan. 15, 2006.
Most of Canada's combat deaths have been the result of IEDs.
Two other explosive devices had gone off before Tuesday's fatal blast.
An explosion Monday in the volatile Panjwaii district resulted only in property damage. But on Sunday, four Canadian soldiers were injured in Zangabad, about 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city, when their vehicle struck an IED that was planted along a dirt road.
The troops were on a road-clearance patrol aimed at finding and defusing mines at the time.
