Rural Qld town mourns fallen soldier

While a rural Queensland family prepares to farewell a "larrikin" son killed in
Afghanistan, two other families in the same town face an anxious wait for their
boys.
Sapper Jacob Moerland, 21, raised in the town of Gayndah, was on his first tour in
Afghanistan when he was killed by a bomb blast on Monday.
Another Brisbane-based combat engineer, Darren Smith, 25, also died in the blast
alongside his bomb detector dog Herbie.
The soldier's death has rocked the tight-knit community some 370km north of Brisbane
- especially the family of Greg Eisel, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, and
the family of James Lederhose, who's preparing for deployment.
The three boys were friends and went to Burnett State College together.
Sue Lederhose told AAP her son James was in Darwin preparing for a possible posting
to Afghanistan.
"James was best friends with Jacob ... he feels very deeply about Jacob's loss," she
said.
Gayndah RSL sub-branch president Errol Shepherd said Greg Eisel and Jacob were on
the same tour.
"His mate (Greg Eisel) was over at Afghanistan and there at the time (of death)," he
said.
"So he would be fairly upset and shocked."
Mr Shepherd said the RSL would honour the memory of the fallen soldier with a plaque.
"We're intending to add his name to the war memorial," he said.
"In the past it's not usually been the case that a memorial is established until the
campaign is completed, but we felt his service warranted this."
Sapper Moerland will be entitled to receive three war medals, which will be given to
his family, Mr Shepherd said.
"The active service medal, the defence medal and the Afghanistan campaign," he said.
North Burnett councillor Peter Huth told AAP that Sapper Moerland's funeral would be
one of the biggest and saddest events ever held in the town.
Mr Huth has been in contact with the family and said they were receiving a lot of
community support from family and friends.
"He was a well respected and well liked young man," he said.
"He was doing the job that he loved.
"Certainly, he was very proud of the work he did."
An army spokeswoman said the "larrikin" young sapper joined the defence force in 2007.
The funeral service will be held at 11am (AEST) on June 17 at the Gayndah community
hall.
The two dead soldiers were expected to be farewelled by their mates at a ramp
ceremony in Afghanistan on Wednesday evening, Australian time.
Defence Minister John Faulkner was planning to attend a second ramp ceremony at the
Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai, when the soldiers' bodies arrived there on Wednesday
evening.
Defence will release information and footage of the ceremonies on Thursday morning.
The bodies of the two soldiers will arrive in Australia several days later.