KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Hundreds of Canadian and coalition troops snapped to silent attention Wednesday as eight of their comrades,
a mournful bagpiper trailing behind them, sent another fallen soldier on his final journey home.
A blinding Afghan sun hung low in the sky as the grim-faced pallbearers loaded a military transport plane with Bombardier Jeremie Ouellet's coffin,
cloaked as always in Canadian colours. The 22-year-old from Matane, Que., a member of the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based
in Shilo, Man., was found dead Tuesday in the sleeping quarters at Kandahar Airfield.
Details about Ouellet's death remained scarce Wednesday, with military officials continuing to say only that the tragedy had nothing to do with combat
operations. Maj. Pierre Bergeron, currently the senior chaplain for Canadian forces in Afghanistan, acknowledged as much when he urged the gathered
ranks to offer up their sorrow and solace to Ouellet's grieving family. "There are deaths that are easier than others to understand and accept; then there
are deaths that leave us with many questions, and this may be the case for some of us," Bergeron said. "But today is not the day for questions and answers,
but rather a time to grieve with each other and to let the family know that we care and share their loss."
To the mournful peal of "Amazing Grace," the flag-wrapped casket was slowly marched down a long corridor of soldiers standing at attention before it was
loaded aboard a transport waiting to fly it back to CFB Trenton, a two-hour drive east of Toronto.
Ouellet's death is under investigation by the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service, or CFNIS - a branch of the military police which probes possible
crimes involving Canadian military personnel or property at home or abroad. Ouellet had only recently arrived in Afghanistan as part of the newest rotation
of soldiers taking over Canada's military efforts in Kandahar.
Kandahar Airfield is home to over 10,000 soldiers who make up the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, working in Afghanistan. It is the headquarters
of the Canadian mission, but the American, British and Dutch militaries also maintain a significant presence. Soldiers sleep in tents or barracks. Though there are
about 2,500 Canadian soldiers involved in the Afghanistan mission, more than half live outside the main base.
Ouellet was the 80th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, most of those the result of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The last time a Canadian soldier
was killed on the base was in March 2007. Corp. Kevin Megeney, a 25-year-old reservist with 1st Battalion of the Nova Scotia Highlanders, died after being shot
in the chest. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Maj. Raymond Ruckpaul was found dead inside ISAF headquarters in Kabul
on Aug. 29, 2007. An investigation concluded his death from a gunshot wound was a suicide.
The number of former soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress has more than tripled since Canada first deployed troops to Afghanistan, say figures released
by Veterans Affairs Canada. Figures based on post-deployment screenings and obtained last summer by The Canadian Press show that among 1,300 Canadian Forces
members who served in Afghanistan since 2005, 28 per cent had symptoms suggestive of one or more mental-health problems.
