Hundreds of troops have given Cpl. Nick Bulger a solemn farewell during a ramp ceremony, as the slain Canadian soldier's body was carried onto a transport plane in Kandahar Airfield.
"Fallen comrades are a reality that every soldier knows too well," Chaplain Bastien Leclerc said in his eulogy.
"The most difficult times are always when the fall occurs."
Bulger, a 30-year-old father of two, died Friday when his vehicle triggered an improvised explosive device. He was headed through the Zhari district west of Kandahar City.
The blast also injured five other soldiers. Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, the Canadian who commands NATO's Task Force Kandahar, was travelling in the same convoy but escaped injury.
One of the injured soldiers, whose name was not released, attended the ramp ceremony in a wheelchair.
Another injured soldier has already returned to duty, while the three other injured soldiers are in Germany for further treatment on what are considered serious injuries.
Bulger was a member of 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton.
Bulger's commanding officer in Edmonton, Lt.-Col. Peter Dawe, said in a statement Saturday that the battalion was overwhelmed by a "great sense of grief."
"I had not personally met Cpl. Bulger prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, but those who knew him well speak of a man tough yet thoughtful, dedicated to his profession, and fiercely loyal," Dawe said.
On Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended his condolences to the soldier's family and expressed "profound regret" about the death.
"Hard-won progress is being made in Afghanistan," Harper said. "Remarkable Canadians like Corporal Bulger will be remembered for their dedication and ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom."
According to Lakefield Herald community newspaper, which ran a profile of him last month, Bulger was born in Toronto and moved to the small town of Buckhorn, Ont., in 1985.
He leaves behind a wife, Rebeka, and two daughters, Brooklyn, 4 and Elizabeth, 2.
Bulger's mother, Kathy, said she last heard from her son two days ago, when he left a message on her answering machine.
That was less than 24 hours before she received notice that her son had been killed.
"The worst call of my life," she told CTV Toronto in an interview on Saturday afternoon.
Kathy Bulger said members of the Buckhorn community often sent supplies to the troops overseas.
And her son would eagerly receive them and pass them on to his colleagues working in Afghanistan.
"Nick made sure that they didn't just stay on the base, any of the supplies," his mother said. "Him and his group would go out -- over the wire as they call it -- and give it to the soldiers out in the field."
The fallen soldier's sister, Jessica, said Bulger felt strongly about the Afghan mission.
"He believed in what he was doing," she said Saturday. "He truly thought he was making a difference and he was."
Sgt. Matthew Parsons, commander of Vance's security detail and Bulger's friend for 10 years, described Bulger as a "helluva guy" who was always willing to help others.
"He always prompted me to be a better person," Parsons said. "Losing somebody like this -- it hits home."
Leclerc said Bulger was so devoted to his family that he had tattoos bearing the names of his wife and daughters.
"He would never lose an occasion to talk about his family, how proud he was to have them in his life, how much he loved them," Leclerc said.
Bulger joined in the military in 2000 and arrived in Afghanistan in February. He was scheduled to arrive back in Canada on leave at the end of July.
The death of Bulger brings to 121 the total number of Canadian soldiers who have died as part of the Afghan mission since it began in 2002.
With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV Toronto's Zuraidah Alman
