PETAWAWA, Ont. - Hundreds of friends, family and comrades turned out in suffocating heat today at CFB Petawawa to remember Master Cpl. Kristal Giesebrecht.
The 34-year-old medic died June 26 in Kandahar province while on her second tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Giesebrecht was described as a person who loved life and cared about everyone around her.
Pte. Andrew Miller, another medic based at CFB Petawawa in eastern Ontario, was also killed in the blast and was buried Saturday in Sudbury, Ont.
Giesebrecht, a native of Wallaceburg, Ont., and graduate of St. Lawrence College, joined the Canadian Forces shortly after marrying her husband, Matt, in 2001.
Matt Giesebrecht called her his true soulmate.
"I too believe that our souls will meet again and I promise that you will never be forgotten," he told mourners Tuesday.
Her commanding officer, Lt. Col. Richard Poirier, said he could not remember a day when she was not smiling.
"Kristal made a lasting impression on everyone she met and you wanted to become her friend," Poirier said.
The unit chaplain told the crowd it was OK to feel anger and sadness over Giesebrecht's death.
All of those presenting eulogies described Giesebrecht as someone who cared for her friends, and even strangers.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven," one of her closest comrades, Cpl. Chantel Denommee, read from scripture.
Giesebrecht was laid to rest shortly after noon to a three-volley salute at Calvin United and First Presbyterian Cemetery in Pembroke, Ont.
Since 2002, 150 members of the Canadian military have died in the Afghan mission.
IEDs have been the single biggest cause of death among Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Two civilians -- diplomat Glyn Berry and journalist Michelle Lang -- have also been killed in Canada's mission to Afghanistan.
