Private Garrett Chidley, 21, along with three other Canadian Forces soldiers and a Vancouver-born journalist, died after the armoured vehicles they were riding in struck an improvised explosive device in Kandahar City.
Cam Chidley said his son was proud to be in Afghanistan as part of the Canadian combat and reconstruction effort.
"He was proud and happy to go there. He worked hard to get there. He was proud of his buddies, proud of what he was up to," he said.
The young soldier was born in Cambridge, Ont., and raised in Langley. He has a brother and a sister, Chidley said.
Brig.-Gen Daniel Ménard, the top commander in Kandahar, gave glowing reports of Chidley, and described him as a young man with a likable, lighthearted demeanor and strong work ethic.
"Garrett was always ready to lend a hand and made tough tasks seem easy by joking around to lighten the mood," Ménard said.
Ménard described Chidley as "a great driver, the one you wanted for difficult tasks." He clearly loved his family, Ménard added.
"He loved talking about his family, especially about how much fun he and his dad together."
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