CFB VALCARTIER, Que. - Hundreds of friends and colleagues gathered Thursday to pay tribute to Master Cpl. Pat Audet, who died alongside another Canadian soldier after his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan on July 6.
The Montreal native was remembered warmly at a ceremony at CFB Valcartier, where he served as a member of 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron.
An air force honour guard snapped to attention and saluted as Audet's flag-draped casket was carried solemnly from the chapel to a waiting hearse.
The hearse then joined a lengthy motorcade, which was led by two police motorcycles, when the mourners left the base for the burial.
A long line of retired military veterans on motorcycles also trailed behind the cortege.
"He took things as they came," said Gilles Roussel, a retired military officer who served with Audet for two years and described him as a guy who always looked on the bright side.
"He adapted, he did his best to make sure everything went well. That's why it was fun to work with him."
Capt. Marc-Andre Lefebvre recalled meeting Audet for the first time and remembering that he was instant hit with his fellow soldiers.
"From the first minute we met him, he was on the ball, on the go, laughing, making jokes," Lefebvre said.
"He wasn't complaining at all, everything was fun with that guy."
The service came on the same day that Pte. Sebastien Sourcy became the 125th Canadian soldier to die during the Afghanistan mission.
Audet, 38, died along with Cpl. Martin Joannette, 25, when their helicopter crashed on takeoff in Zabul province.
The two men were the 123rd and 124th Canadian soldiers to die on the Afghan mission.
A British officer also died when the aircraft went down and three other Canadian Forces members were injured in the accident, one of them seriously.
Joannette, a native of St-Calixte, was with the Valcartier-based 3e Bataillon, Royal 22e Regiment.
His funeral will take place on Saturday.
The crash prompted the commander of the military's Griffon helicopter squadron to defend the safety and performance of the aircraft in Afghanistan following the fatal incident.
The Canadian Forces modified the notoriously underpowered choppers before they were deployed, removing about 150 kilograms of excess weight, Col. Christopher Coates said shortly after the crash happened.
Pilots received special training in flying during dusty conditions, he said. And the jobs the Griffon CH-146s are expected to do -- mainly escort and reconnaissance -- have been tailored to the helicopter's limitations, said Coates, commander of 1 Wing in Kingston, Ont.
He pointed out the environmental challenges posed by the hot and dusty desert are not unique to the Griffons, which look much like the old Hueys that flew by the thousands in Vietnam.
Sources have told The Canadian Press the crash occurred when the chopper clipped a security wall while trying to manoeuvre in a blinding cloud of dust.
