Sapper Stock Tribute

Three combat engineers are the latest Canadian soldiers to lose their lives after their convoy hit a roadside bomb outside Kandahar City.

They have been identified as Sergeant Shawn Eades of Hamilton, Ont., Corporal Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden of Spiritwood, Sask., and Sapper Stephan John Stock of Campbell River, B. C., all with Edmonton's 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment.

A fourth soldier was seriously injured and taken to military hospital. No information about the incident, which happened early on Wednesday, was made public until yesterday morning. All four soldiers were attached to the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. Sgt. Eades, who was on his

third tour of Afghanistan, was remembered by his family and colleagues as a dedicated soldier and devoted father.

"My husband, Shawn, was a proud and dedicated soldier," Lisa Schamehorn said in a statement. "He died doing what he loved -- being a soldier…. He believed in what he was doing and he knew he was making a difference for the people there."

Sgt. Eades leaves behind two daughters -- Breanna, 7, and Niya, 4 -- who were "the pride of Shawn's life," Ms. Schamehorn said. "He always had strong family values and it was difficult for him to be away, but he always knew that his family would receive great care from his extended family and from the military's services."

Born and raised in Spiritwood, 180 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, Cpl. Wasden married last year on the date of his parents' and grandparents' anniversaries. He and his wife were living in Edmonton.

"He was a kid who was always ready for anything you would say," said cousin Ron Wasden. "Exuberant, I guess you'd call it."

B. C. native Sapper Stock "just wanted to do something good," according to a fellow soldier and friend.

"He was a really good guy, a strong individual who never let anything bother him when the other guys were griping," said Chris Moir, 25, a combat engineer based in CFB Petawawa in Ontario.

The attack occurred at 10:30 a. m. local time in Zhari district, about 40 kilometres west of Kandahar Airfield.

This brings to 93 the total number of Canadian soldiers killed while serving in Afghanistan.

"Today, all of Canada mourns the deaths of three brave soldiers killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement.

At Kandahar Airfield, Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, said the soldiers "were on their way to the site where they were going to do a reconnaissance of a route.

"An engineer reconnaissance team is a tight-knit unit and these men were no exception. They were a well-trained, highly motivated crew and believed in their mission."

In Afghanistan, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his fighters are responsible for the attack. Insurgents routinely use roadside bombs to ambush NATO and International Security Assistance Forces along Afghan roads.

Supply convoys and patrols are commonly targeted in such attacks, making travel by land difficult and dangerous.

"I don't know that the Taliban are getting any stronger," Brig.-Gen. Thompson said in response to a reporter's question yesterday.

"What I would say is that they're much more aggressive this fighting season than they've been in the past."

But he argued the insurgents are "not holding any of the ground they're attacking us on."

"So, in the case of an IED strike, they will inflict some casualties, but they don't control the road that they inflicted the casualties on. So the net effect is zero, other than it whittles away at our resolve."

The explosive devices have been the cause of 44 Canadian deaths, which is nearly half the total.