The sad smile of a dying soldier (Canadian, U.S. Troops: 'band of brothers' against the Taliban)

But the Taliban haven't abandoned Pashmul -- only disappeared from sight. Soldiers say the insurgents appear to have dug into the road's thick dust, which resembles brown talcum, and set up several explosives -- perhaps an anti-tank mine combined with smaller bombs -- and rigged them to detonate under slight pressure.

"When we went through, the first two guys didn't hit it," said Cpl. Blois, who was walking at the patrol's tail end.

"The explosion went off, and my immediate thought was it was the section commander who hit it, because he was the very first guy in the patrol," he said.

In fact, the commander was unhurt, but in the haze of dust and lingering shock of the blast it was difficult for the survivors to tell who had been injured.

"I didn't get hit with anything," Cpl. Blois said. "So I just started yelling people's names, and guys started to respond."

One of those who didn't answer right away was Cpl. James Miller, of Hamilton, Ont., who was partly deafened by the blast.

"Miller didn't respond but he came out of the smoke and dust, and he was really disoriented. You could tell he was pretty messed up."

Cpl. Blois paused. "Klukie's name? There was no response."

Trailing behind the Canadian patrol, about 200 metres south, was a team of U.S. soldiers who specialize in clearing mines. Cpl. Blois threw off his heavy backpack and ran toward them for help.

"They saw me coming, and they just started running," he said. A U.S. medic joined the Canadian corporal and they started sweeping the dense foliage of grape trellises, searching for the missing soldier.

"The blast threw Klukie about 50 metres off the road," Cpl. Blois said. "He landed in the vineyard. I think he must have hit one of the walls. He was laying on his back when the American medic and I found him.

He continued: "We immediately started working, without saying anything to each other. He put a tourniquet on his right leg, which was almost completely gone. I put tourniquets on his arm and his other leg.

"You could tell he couldn't hear anything, but he could recognize me, you know. I was looking right at him. He couldn't say anything. I was just telling him to keep fighting, you know, keep fighting, keep fighting."

Pte. Klukie's friends say he was a big, well-built soldier in peak physical shape, who dreamed of joining the elite JTF2 special forces. But the blast that went off under his feet was probably enough to destroy a vehicle, never mind a man.

May we have swift victory over a ruthless enemy.