By Antonia Magee and Michael Harvey
# July 20, 2009 1:22AM
News.com.au
THE heartbroken girlfriend of Private Benjamin Ranaudo said a part of her soul was stolen when her boyfriend was killed by an explosion in Afghanistan.
Just hours after the Australian Defence Force confirmed Pte Ranaudo's death, Haylee Tamara McCarthy, 21, wrote several tributes to him on her Facebook page, including a heartfelt message to her lost love saying he would stay with her forever.
"Forever in my heart, forever in my mind - you've taken a bit of my soul with you bub," Ms McCarthy said yesterday.
"I really thought we were going to be together forever and we promised each other we'd get through anything - that this trip would make us stronger."
Pte Ranaudo, 22, was killed when an anti-personnel explosive device detonated in the Baluchi Valley, near Tarin Kowt, early on Saturday as a part of an operation against a "compound of interest".
The blast left another Australian soldier fighting for his life and injured three civilians, including an eight-year-old boy.
The Melbourne man was a member of the Townsville-based 1RAR. He had been in the army for three years and in Afghanistan for less than two months when he died.
In one of his last messages to home, he described serving his country as "awesome".
In a message to a friend on his Facebook page on Friday afternoon, just a day before he died, Pte Ranaudo wrote: "I actually like it over here, weird huh. Be good to tell ya all about it when I get bak (sic)."
On July 5 Pte Ranaudo said his Afghanistan experience was ``awesome'', but cautiously added "still early days thou (sic)".
Last week he sent a message congratulating Ms McCarthy on her university results, but his army duty was something that obviously weighed heavily on their minds.
"Hey bub, hope ur (sic) doing a little better now. I really think time will fly by, and will be back together in no time," he wrote.
His uncle Andrew Renaudo said last night his "brave" nephew was too young to be fighting a war.
"I don't know who you send there, but I think 22-year-old kids shouldn't be in that sort of a war zone," Mr Ranaudo said.
"We want this to stop, we don't want this to happen to anyone else."
Mr Ranaudo said his nephew had always been brave and was flagged for greater things in the armed forces.
"He was only a young man, but he was there doing what he wanted to do. He wanted to be there."
His death - the 11th Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan - drew tributes from military and political leaders.
Chief of Defence Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston described him as a "fine, brave and dedicated soldier" who risked his life for his fellow Australians.
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