Cpl. Jonathan Couturier, who should have been flying home Friday for a reunion with his fiancee, was instead buried Thursday near Quebec City. Couturier, 23, was killed by a roadside bomb last month on his first mission in Afghanistan.

Couturier was a member of the Royal 22nd regiment based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, which has lost 23 members since the mission began.

Couturier's mother is still trying to make sense of her son's death, says Maj. Christian Martin.

"She told me 'somebody told me that what he did over there might have saved the lives of how many children or how many women,' "Martin told CTV's John Grant.

"So she says 'if my son did that over there and had a good impact I'm very proud of what he did.' "

Worries

Members of the regiment are scheduled to return home in six weeks and families can only hope that everyone will come home safely.

Doubts

Couturier's story is somewhat different than that of some of the other dead soldiers in that his doubts about the mission became public knowledge.

His relatives voiced their opposition to the war in media interviews, calling his death "pointless.''

Despite his pessimism about the success of the mission, he tried to stay positive, they said.

It's a reaction that comes amid a debate over whether the mission in Afghanistan has any hope of success.