Reservists vow to carry on for fallen friend

Soldiers with the Halifax-basedPrincessLouise Fusiliers army reserve infantry regiment are determined to carry on the work of Master Cpl. Chris Stannix, one of six Canadian soldiers killed Sunday in Afghanistan.

Stannix, 24, and nine other soldiers were in a LAV IIIarmoured vehicle that struck a roadside bomb west ofKandahar City. Two were injured.

Stannix and Cpl. Justin Spurr were both teenagers when soldiers from the Fusiliers visited their high school. They signed up for reserve duty at the same time.

"He was always interested in the army and when they came to the school it was an opportunity for him to see what it was like, to go for it right away," Spurr said of his friend.

Stannix signed up for the mission in Afghanistan first.

He loved his country, the military and the Fusiliers, and believed he was making a difference in Afghanistan, his family said in astatement released Monday.

Even though his friend was killed in one of the deadliest days of the mission, Spurr said he can't wait to head overseas.

"Before, I wanted to go for everything that I wanted to do, and now this makes me want to go more to help continue what Chris was helping," he said.

Cpl. Samantha Kinrade, who joined the Fusiliers more than two years ago, wants to go to Afghanistan too, andsaid she's not afraid of dying.

"From what I get, you don't really have time to think about that," she said. "What you're really thinking about is what's going to happen to the person next to you."

Stannix is the first member of the Fusiliers to be killed in combat since the Second World War.

Both Kinrade and Spurr are finishing their training at CFB Gagetown, but they say they'll travel to Nova Scotia to attend Stannix's funeral.