CFB VALCARTIER, Que. — Some 450 friends and colleagues came to pay their respects to Cpl. Martin Joannette, one of two Canadian soldiers who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan this month.

They gathered Saturday in a chapel at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, where only days before the funeral for Master Cpl. Pat Audet was held.

Joannette died alongside Master Corporal Pat Audet, 38, when their helicopter crashed on takeoff in Zabul province.

At the end of the ceremony, just as Joannette's flag-draped coffin was placed in the waiting hearse, three military helicopters flew overhead as a tribute to the fallen paratrooper.

During the private ceremony, Warrant Officer Dominic April, who knew Joannette, underscored the 25-year-old's persistent nature.

April said the young soldier, on his third tour with the Canadian mission in Afghanistan, was committed to his work and keen to acquire new skills.

Joannette completed his training to become a helicopter machine-gunner just before leaving for the Kandahar base last February, April noted.

"He was a tenacious man," he said.

"He loved his work and he was someone who wanted to grow in his career, who wanted to succeed in his job. I saw him last autumn when he'd just become a machine-gunner and he was so passionate about it. It was a new skill he'd learned."

April said it was important for him and his colleagues to pay homage to the fallen soldier.

"We want to show him that he's not forgotten," he said.

"That we're here and we'll always be here and that he'll always be there in our hearts and minds."

Sgt. Sebastien Frechette worked with Joannette in Afghanistan in 2006 and said the paratrooper was much appreciated by the other soldiers.

"You didn't have a choice, you just liked him," he said.

"I don't know anyone who couldn't say that they adored him. He was kind, always in a good mood."

Joannette was a native of St-Calixte, a town some 70 kilometres northwest of Montreal. He joined the Canadian Forces in 2001 and served with the 3e Bataillon, Royal 22e Regiment on CFB Valcartier.

He leaves behind his common-law wife, Marie-Eve Dionne.

A British soldier was also killed in the July 6 crash, and three other Canadian Forces members were injured in the accident, one of them seriously.

An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the accident.

Another Canadian soldier, 26-year-old Pte. Sebastien Courcy was killed last week when he fell from his position on high ground during a counter-insurgency operation in the dangerous Panjwaii district.

His death brought to 125 the number of Canadian military deaths in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002.