Community says goodbye to Cpl. Murphy

A steady stream of people from across the country journeyed to Conception Harbour for the funeral of Cpl. Jamie Murphy.

The service was held Tuesday with full military honours at Saint Anne's Church in Conception Harbour. The funeral party included 33 soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regimment and 1st Battalion, Royal Newfoundland Regiment.

Murphy died last week in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber attacked a jeep. Three other Canadian soldiers were wounded and one Afghan civilian died.

Unlike the formal memorials last week in Ottawa, the family requested a private funeral. A close circuit television feed was arranged for a nearby hall to handle the overflow crowd. Media outlets were not allowed access to the church nor were they able to record the service.

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Hundreds of people travelled to the service from other parts of the province and across Canada to pay their respects. Ron Beatty, 70, travelled from London, Ontario, saying he came because he was a former military man.

Canadian soldiers still on duty in Afghanistan were also taking time Tuesday to remember Murphy.

Cpl. Craig Whitehorne of Happy Valley-Goose Bay is serving in Kabul.

"On behalf of the soldiers in Kabul, our condolences are being sent out. I'm sure our unit is going to do anything they can possibly do to take care of the family's needs and help them out", he says.

Whitehorne described Murphy as an "outstanding guy".