The remains of Sgt. Scott Shipway, the 97th Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan, are heading home.
The infantryman's remains were put aboard a military plane following a sunset ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield Monday evening, local time.
Thousands of coalition troops lined the tarmac and saluted Shipway's casket as it was carried to the plane.
Moments before pall bearers carried the flag-draped casket to the transport plane, battlegroup chaplain Capt. Darren Persaud said that Shipway was always there for his fellow troops.
"He watched over his men, like a father guards his children, and that is how he will forever be remembered," Persaud told The Canadian Press.
The father of two was less than a week away from the end of his second tour of Afghanistan when he was killed in a roadside bomb attack Sunday.
Seven others were injured in the blast.
Shipway, a member of the 2nd battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry was based at CFB Shilo, grew up in Saskatchewan after emigrating with his family from Britain.
He was living in Saskatoon when he joined the Canadian Forces in 1990 and had previously completed tours of duty in Cyprus, Bosnia, and Kosovo.
Brig. Gen. Denis Thompson told reporters on Sunday that Shipway was an experienced and much-loved soldier.
"Scott was a seasoned veteran ... a dedicated father and a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan," Thompson said.
He added that fellow-soldiers called him "Papa Shipway" and his motto was "never let a comrade down."
Thompson said Shipway's dedication was apparent when he helped save a fellow soldier's life during a roadside bomb attack in 2006.
Shipway is survived by his wife Deanna, six-year-old son Hayden, four-year-old daughter Rowan and his parents Susan and Charlie.
With files from The Canadian Press
