Canadian soldier's body heads home

The body of Sapper Steven Marshall began its journey home Saturday after a ramp ceremony at  Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.

Marshall, 24, was killed Friday afternoon when his foot patrol struck an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan's Panjwaii district, 10 kilometres southwest of the city of Kandahar.

More than 2,300 Canadian and foreign troops gathered on the airfield's tarmac to pay their last respects to Marshall before his flag-draped coffin boarded a military plane for Canada.

"To his friends, Steven was a passionate hockey fan who loved his hometown Calgary Flames. His ever-present grin and sense of humour was contagious. Steven generously shared his zest for life with all who knew him," said Capt. Steve Defer, a chaplain.

A friend of the young soldier — Sapper Dustin Perry, 21, from Chilliwack, B.C. — remembered Marshall as someone with a great sense of humour. Perry said Marshall always put others before himself.

Marshall, a combat engineer based in Edmonton, was the 133rd Canadian soldier to die during the Afghan mission, and the second this week following the death of Lt. Justin Boyes in an IED blast on Wednesday.

A plane carrying the body of Boyes, who was raised in Saskatoon, was due to arrive at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario on Saturday afternoon.