LOWER SACKVILLE, N.S. - Mourners filled two churches in Nova Scotia on Monday to pay their respects to soldiers who were killed by a roadside bomb earlier this month in Afghanistan.
Hundreds attended the services for Cpl. Thomas Hamilton at St. James United Church in Upper Musquodoboit and Pte. John Curwin at Knox United Church in Lower Sackville.
Brig.-Gen. David Neasmith, commander of Canadian Land Forces, Atlantic Area, said two funerals in one day was difficult.
"It's been a tough day," he said. "The whole community -- not just the Royal Canadian Regiment -- but all the reserve units, too, lean forward to support the families in any possible way they can."
Hamilton, 26, the father of a young daughter, was born in Truro and grew up in nearby Upper Musquodoboit.
Family members have remembered Hamilton as a loving man who enjoyed fishing, camping and golf.
Curwin's family has paid tribute to him as someone who could always be counted on to give whatever he could to family and friends.
Curwin and his wife Laura were sweethearts from when they first met at the age of 15. They have three children, Makayla, Michael and Jenna.
A statement from the family issued after his death said Curwin loved playing hockey with his son.
Speaking before Curwin's funeral, Neasmith described him as an "outstanding soldier."
"He took the job very seriously," he said. "He was a great father. He was loved as a son, as a brother and as a husband by Laura."
Neasmith said Hamilton touched people he met.
"He was a very good soul and a real Canadian," he added. "He believed in what he was doing. It was his third tour of Afghanistan. ... He was doing what he loved to do."
Hamilton, Curwin and Pte. Justin Jones of Baie Verte, N.L., died Dec. 13 in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb hit their armoured vehicle about 14 kilometres west of Kandahar City, near the village Senjaray. A fourth soldier, Pte. Christopher Deering of St. Stephen, N.B., was injured in the attack.
A funeral service for Jones, 21, is scheduled for Tuesday in Baie Verte.
All three were members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, N.B.
Hamilton's flag-draped casket was accompanied by an honour guard as it was carried by pallbearers into the small church in Upper Musquodoboit, the flag outside flying at half-mast.
The honour guard at Curwin's funeral stood in freezing temperatures for more than 45 minutes to receive his casket.
Neasmith said the deaths were particularly hard to deal with because it is Christmas.
"I ask all Canadians to think of John Curwin, Cpl. Thomas Hamilton and Pte. Justin Jones from Newfoundland in this season where most people are being together as families -- but for those families, it's going to be a tough Christmas."
Since 2002, 103 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died during the Afghanistan mission.
Seventeen Canadians have died as a result of improvised explosive device attacks this year alone.
