Dieppe company holds service to remember Cpl. Dustin Wasden, killed in Afghanistan Aug. 20

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A Canadian soldier killed last month in Afghanistan was remembered by his mother-in-law's co-workers in Metro Moncton yesterday as a kind-hearted husband and father who went out of his way to help children in the war-torn country.

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Cpl. Dustin Wasden is seen distributing shoes and other gifts to children in Afghanistan. Wasden, who was killed last month by a roadside bomb, was remembered yesterday during a memorial service at Irving Consumer Products, where his mother-in-law is employed.

Office staff at Irving Consumer Products in Dieppe yesterday held a quiet memorial service for Cpl. Dustin Roy Joseph Wasden, a 25-year-old combat engineer who was killed in Afghanistan Aug. 20.

An office manager said office workers regularly put together care packages for Wasden and other members of his unit and wanted to do something in his memory. A group of them organized the memorial, which included prayers and a slideshow of photos of Wasden in Afghanistan. One of the photos shows him distributing shoes and other gifts to children.

The memorial in Dieppe was held to coincide with Wasden's funeral in Saskatchewan yesterday afternoon.

Wasden was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while he and others were on patrol. He was with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment from Edmonton.

Wasden is survived by his wife Shannon Jamael and a young daughter named Makayla. Coates said Shannon and Dustin met at CFB Gagetown. Shannon's mother, Mary Ann Jamael, works in the office of Irving Consumer Products. She travelled to Saskatchewan to be with the rest of the family.

In Spiritwood, Saskatchewan yesterday, mourners lined the streets to pay their respects to Wasden.

The hockey arena was also packed with mourners as a military honour guard carried the soldier's coffin inside for the service.

A statement from Wasden's family posted on the National Defence website described Wasden as a dedicated soldier, loving husband and father. He was said to be generous with the children of Afghanistan and always participated in "Shoe Day" when soldiers distributed shoes and other gifts to the children.

"He insisted many times: 'Are we not here for the kids? Is that not why we are here.' Dustin was there for the kids and hoped one day his work would make a difference,'" the statement from his family said.