He was new to his regiment, a young man on his first overseas mission who was expecting his first child.

Nevertheless, when Trooper Richard Renaud left for Afghanistan, he was taking on one of the more challenging tasks among the 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in the country's volatile south.

Trooper Renaud, who died yesterday morning when a makeshift mine struck his Coyote vehicle, was a member of his armoured regiment's reconnaissance squadron.

His unit, 12e Régiment blindé du Canada, is the armoured wing of the land forces at CFB Valcartier, Que.

As a Coyote driver, Trooper Renaud was on a squadron that repeatedly went on scouting missions "outside the wire," beyond the relative safety of the Kandahar airfield.

The reconnaissance squadron acts as the eyes and ears of the Canadian military, probing hostile areas in their lightly armoured vehicles.

Trooper Renaud died while the squadron was on patrol north of Kandahar city.

The 26-year-old grew up in Alma, a small industrial town 220 kilometres north of Quebec City.

He was recently married and his wife is expecting a child, according to Alma residents close to the family. He also leaves behind a four-year-old stepson, along with his father, mother and sister.

His mother, Johanne Tremblay, was reported to be devastated by the loss of her only son. "Richard left us doing something he loved. We will miss him dearly," Trooper Renaud's family said in a statement last night.

Ms. Tremblay works as a cook in a well known local tavern founded by former Montreal Canadiens hockey star Mario Tremblay (no relation). The mood there was grim last night.

"We are about 40 employees here and a number of them have a member of their family in the army. We never think it will happen to us and the next thing you know someone close to us loses a family member. It's hard on the families," said one waitress.

Military personnel from nearby CFB Bagotville met with the soldier's grieving parents yesterday. "Of course it's never easy to get news like this," said Lieutenant Alexandre Munoz, who spoke to Trooper Renaud's parents. "It's time for them to absorb the news and to let them breathe."

Trooper Renaud enrolled in October of 2004. At the time, it had been three years since the Canadian military had been in Afghanistan and seven Canadian soldiers had died, but it would be another year before the army redeployed to the more dangerous areas around Kandahar where it would engage in direct combat with the Taliban.

Trooper Renaud was the 77th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan.

"I can certify that his life was not given in vain, and that his contribution in Afghanistan made a difference," Colonel Eric Tremblay, head of the 5th Mechanized Brigade, the parent unit of Trooper Renaud's regiment, said in a statement.

"Trooper Renaud made the ultimate sacrifice while working to bring security, democracy and self-reliance to the people of Afghanistan, all the while protecting Canada's values and security," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. "As we mourn the loss of Trooper Renaud we think of his courage, commitment and bravery."

His death came on the same day that visitations were held in Rimouski, Que., for another fallen Valcartier soldier, Corporal Éric Labbé, of the Royal 22nd Regiment, who died two weeks ago in a vehicle accident that also killed Warrant Officer Hani Massouh.