Canadian soldier killed after reassuring mom he was safe

One of the Canadian soldierskilled in Afghanistan on Wednesday had called his mother a day earlier to say he was safe, his father says.

"He had just got in touch with his mother yesterday to let her know he was safe after the other soldiers were killed there," Jim Pentland, a retired soldier and the fatherof Trooper Patrick James Pentland, toldthe Canadian Press.

Pentland, 23, and Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, 30,were killed when a bombexploded next to a Canadian military vehicle.

"So any time something happened, he tried to get word home to let her know he was OK,"said Pentland's father, who lives in Gagetown, N.B."He was very considerate towards his mom for that."

Jim Pentland said his son, who was based in Petawawa, Ont.was a dutiful young man who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.

"He was just a quiet, fit soldier who died doing what he wanted to do."

Hisfather said Patrick had seen his mother Gabriele, 43, and his German grandparents during a recent leave in Germany. But his father had chosen to stay home and look after the dogs and cats at their home in New Brunswick.

Community will ease the pain: soldier's father

Being in Gagetown, among other military families, will help his family cope, Jim Pentland said

"The community we're in, it's basically a military community. A lot of our friends are military or retired military. They've watched our son grow up, it's a tight-knit community and for coping that will make it a little bit easier for us."

He was born on the Canadian military base in Lahr, Germany, and returned with the family to Gagetown when he was young. The family returned for a second stint in Germany, before returning again to the base in Gagetown.

His father said the family doesn't question the conflict in Afghanistan despite his son's death.

"They're soldiers. They go over there to do a job, to try to make life better for other people," he said.

"We hold no animosity towards the people over there. They have enough animosity in their lives already. We look at it as Canadians trying to help another country that isn't as fortunate as our own."