'He loved his girls'

Eades, who grew up in Hamilton, Ont., and joined the military at 18, was on his third tour in Afghanistan.

Interviewed before departing for the country in 2005, he told CBC News: "We are just raring to go. We've been basically building up to this point for the last 3½ months. We just want to get going, get working on our job and come home."

Lisa Eades told the Canadian Press that it was her husband's dream to help people by serving in the military and that he believed strongly in the Afghanistan mission.

Still, she said it was hard for him to leave his family, especially his two daughters, Breanna, 7, and Nyia, 4.

"He loved his girls and it was very hard for him to go away," she said when reached in Edmonton.

Eades and the other two slain soldiers were part of a tight-knit crew of combat engineers who were en route to a site to survey a route for use in a future operation, said Thompson