At least 3,000 soldiers and civilians from Canada, the United States, Australia, Britain, France and other gathered on the tarmac at Kandahar Airfield to pay their final respects to 25-year-old Michael Yuki Hayakaze.
Trooper Hayakaze, of Edmonton, was killed Sunday while driving on a supply mission, after his armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. He was the 79th Canadian soldier to die in the war-torn country since 2002.
At the sunrise ramp ceremony Tuesday morning, his coffin was carried by fellow soldiers from the Lord Strathcona regiment of Edmonton.
"Amazing Grace" played as the flag-draped coffin was put in the back of a Hercules plane to be flown home to Canada.
His commanding officer back in Edmonton, Lt.-Col. Pascal Demers, met with media on Monday, and told them Hayakaze's family has requested a military funeral.
"The word I did get from Trooper Hayakaze's father, Ted, was just that he expressed a wish to honour and respect his son's service to society, and of course we'll respect that,'' said Demers, commanding officer of the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians).
Earlier reports said Hayakaze had been in Afghanistan since July or August, but on Monday the military said he had been deployed in October to replace another soldier who had been injured by a similar roadside bomb.
"Michael Hayakaze at the time of his death was giving moms and kids in the small town Kandahar a chance at a decent life and I for one love him for it," Col. Jon Vance said.
Hayakaze graduated from Eastglen High School in 2001. Teachers said he never failed to leave a lasting impression.
"He was a polite student, a thoughtful student and the kind of student that would be an absolute pleasure to teach," social studies teacher Trudy Oatway said.
Hayakaze joined the army in July 2006, and travelled to Fort Bliss, Texas and Germany for his specialized driver training. He was only days away from returning to Canada at the end of his mission.
Flags flew at half-mast on at the Edmonton garrison in his memory.
With a report from CTV Edmonton's Rob McAnally
