Private David Byers and Corporals Glen Arnold, Shane Keating, and Keith Morley were all killed Monday, Sept. 18 by a suicide bomber in the volatile Panjwayi district in southern Afghanistan. Their bodies arrived at CFB Trenton at 1pm Saturday.
Arnold was based at CFB Petawawa and Keating, Morley, and Byers were based out of CFB Shilo in Manitoba.
Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor was among the dignitaries who attended the solemn service that saw the flag-draped coffins of the four soldiers lowered from a military aircraft and carried to waiting hearses.
Military pallbearers carried each casket as a piper played the lament "Flowers of the Forest".
Arnold, 32, leaves behind his wife and four children. He was no stranger to overseas missions. During his 14-years of military service he travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
He was raised in the tiny Ontario hamlet of McKerrow, just five kilometres away from Byers' hometown of Espanola.
Byers, just 22-years-old, was described by his family as "a true soldier", and was expecting his first child with fiancee Chantal Roy.
Morley, 30, was often seen by his neighbours at CFB Shilo playing with his dog Lokie.
"Keith was ... proud of what he was doing in Afghanistan," his family said in a statement this week.
And Keating, also 30, died "for what he believes in," his mother Judith Budd said Thursday.
The four men (see pictures below) were all remembered as good-humoured and hard-working troops.
The soldiers were handing out candy and notebooks to local children when the attacker rode up on a bicycle and detonated his explosives. Twenty-seven civilians were also injured in the attack, according to NATO.
The deadly bombing came just as Canadian and NATO forces had wrapped up a two-week anti-Taliban offensive in the area dubbed Operation Medusa.
Saturday's repatriation ceremony was a scene that's become all too familiar for Canadians. Thirty-six Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
The sad ceremony coincided with
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's visit to Montreal, where he was scheduled to meet with NDP Leader Jack Layton, who's called for a quick withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.
Karzai was in Ottawa Friday to address a joint session of the Commons and Senate. During his speech he extended his condolences to the families of slain Canadian soldiers and thanked Canada for its efforts to try to bring peace and stability to his country.
Karzai also said that his country will need foreign help for years as it struggles to build a strong democracy.
His address was followed by a large rally on Parliament Hill in support of the Canadian troops and the mission in Afghanistan where Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the crowd and reiterated his government's military commitment to the Afghan mission.
Since 2002, 36 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan. Here is a list of the deaths:
2006
Sept. 18: Private David Byers and Corporals Glen Arnold, Shane Keating, and Keith Morley killed in suicide bicycle bomb attack on foot patrol in Panjwaii.
Sept. 4: Pte. Mark Graham who was based at CFB Petawawa killed when two NATO planes accidentally strafed Canadian troops in the Panjwaii district. About 30 others wounded, five seriously.
Sept. 3: Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, Pte. William Cushley and Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan, all based at CFB Petawawa, Ont., killed in fighting in Panjwaii district.
Aug. 22: Cpl. David Braun, who was based at Shilo, Man., killed in a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar City.
Aug. 11: Cpl. Andrew Eykelenboom, 23, of Comox, B.C., stationed with 1st Field Ambulance, based in Edmonton, killed in suicide attack.
Aug. 9: Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, 33, of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man., killed by apparent accidental discharge of rifle.
Aug. 5: Master Cpl. Raymond Arndt, 31, of Loyal Edmonton Regiment, killed when large truck collided head-on with his G-Wagon patrol vehicle.
Aug. 3: Cpl. Christopher Reid, 34, of 1st Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, killed by roadside bomb. Three other members of same battalion killed in rocket-propelled grenade attack by Taliban forces west of Kandahar: Sgt. Vaughan Ingram, 35, Cpl. Bryce Keller, 27, and Pte. Kevin Dallaire, 22.
July 22: Cpl. Francisco Gomez, 44, of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, and Cpl. Jason Warren, 29, of Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada, based in Montreal, killed when car packed with explosives rammed their armoured vehicle.
July 9: Cpl. Anthony Boneca, 21, reservist from Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, Ont., killed in firefight.
May 17: Capt. Nichola Goddard, artillery officer based in Shilo, Man., with 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, killed in Taliban ambush during battle in Panjwaii region. She was first Canadian woman to be killed in action while serving in combat role.
April 22: Cpl. Matthew Dinning of Richmond Hill, Ont., stationed with 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade in Petawawa, Ont., Bombardier Myles Mansell of Victoria, Lieut. William Turner of Toronto, stationed in Edmonton, and Cpl. Randy Payne, born in Lahr, Germany, stationed at CFB Wainright, Alta., all killed when their G-Wagon destroyed by roadside bomb near Gumbad.
March 29: Pte. Robert Costall of Edmonton, machine-gunner, killed in firefight with Taliban insurgents in Sangin district of Helmand province.
March 2: Cpl. Paul Davis of Bridgewater, N.S., and Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson of Grande Prairie, Alta., killed when their armoured vehicle ran off road in Kandahar area.
Jan. 15: Glyn Berry, British-born Canadian diplomat who had served with Foreign Affairs Department since 1977, killed in suicide bombing near Kandahar.
2005
Nov. 24: Pte. Braun Woodfield, born in Victoria and raised in Eastern Passage, N.S., killed when his armoured vehicle rolled over near Kandahar.
2004
Jan. 27: Cpl. Jamie Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., killed in suicide bombing while on patrol near Kabul.
2003
Oct. 2: Sgt. Robert Short, 42, of Fredericton, and Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, 29, of Ottawa, killed in roadside bombing southwest of Kabul.
2002
April 17: Sgt. Marc Leger, 29, of Lancaster, Ont., Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 24, of Montreal, Pte. Richard Green, 21, of Mill Cove, N.S., and Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, of Tatamagouche, N.S., all killed when U.S. F-16 fighter mistakenly bombed Canadians on pre-dawn training exercise. Eight other Canadians wounded in friendly-fire incident.