Army mates of two young Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan will gather tomorrow for a memorial service to honour their service and sacrifice.
The bodies of Brisbane-based sappers Jacob Moerland, 21, and Darren Smith, 25, were returned to their families on Sunday in a service made all the more heart
wrenching by the reaction of toddler Mason Smith.
The two-and-a-half-year-old excitedly cried "Daddy!" when he caught sight of a large photo of his dad in army greens sitting on a lectern, as the men were returned to the RAAF base at Amberley west of Brisbane.
On Tuesday, members of the fallen soldiers' 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment will gather to say their own goodbyes at Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera.
Later in the week the men will be laid to rest.
A funeral service for Sapper Moerland will be held at on June 17 at the community hall in his home town of Gayndah, west of Maryborough.
Sapper Smith will be farewelled at the Marist College in Ashgrove in Brisbane on June 19.
The men died when an insurgent improvised explosive device detonated during an operation on June 7.
Sapper Smith's bomb detector dog Herbie was also killed by the blast. The dog is being cremated in Afghanistan and will be returned home to widow Angela Smith.
The soldiers' deaths took the Australian casualty toll in Afghanistan to 13 since 2002.
It was the first time Australia has suffered multiple combat casualties since the Vietnam War.
- AAP
