Soldiers at CFB Valcartier in Quebec are steeling themselves to move on after the recent deaths of their two comrades in Afghanistan.
Cpl. Nicolas Raymond Beauchamp, 28, of the 5th Field Ambulance in Valcartier and Pte. Michel Levesque, 25, of 3rd Battalion, the Royal 22nd Regiment were killed Saturday when their Light Armoured Vehicle hit a roadside bomb near Kandahar.
Maj. Pierre Voyer told Canada AM on Thursday that morale on the base, which is located 25 kilometres north of Quebec City, remains "very good."
Voyer described Beauchamp as a supportive soldier who was always there for the troops on the front lines.
"As a medical personnel, he was with them at the front to be sure they were well supported," Voyer said.
"He was doing a really good job."
Col. Eric Tremblay, commander of the 5th Canadian Mechanized Group Brigade, said Beauchamp's spouse, Cpl. Dolores Crampton is receiving support from her family and her colleagues. Crampton was a medical technician based with Beauchamp's unit in Kandahar.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the whole community here in Valcartier, and in fact throughout the Canadian Forces, are behind Cpl. Crampton," Tremblay told Canada AM on Thursday.
"We will do our best during this very difficult situation for her, and for the military community."
Crampton accompanied her husband's body back to Canada, laying flowers on his coffin during a repatriation ceremony on Tuesday.
Tremblay said funeral arrangements for both soldiers are underway.
"They are still working on the details in dignity and compassion with the families," he said.
An Afghan interpreter was also killed in Saturday's blast. Three other Canadian soldiers were wounded and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Tremblay said the three other soldiers are undergoing treatment in Germany.
"They are stable, it's a grave situation, but they will make it," Tremblay said.
The blast occurred in Zhari district, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City, where Afghan soldiers backed by Canadian ground forces and U.S. air strikes reportedly killed as many as 20 insurgents.
Canada has seen 73 military personnel and one diplomat die in Afghanistan since 2002.
