Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Capt. Harry Crawford, who became both friend and padre to Nichola Goddard, remembers the first time he met the young artillery captain who earned the tragic distinction Wednesday of becoming Canada's first woman in a combat role to fall to enemy fire.
Crawford had just moved to Canadian Forces Base Shilo, Man., where Goddard was based. It was -40 that day, and Crawford, a Nova Scotian, was unprepared and hatless in the harsh Prairie winter.
Goddard, the first person Crawford met, took care of that right away.
"When she noticed I didn't have any hats, she went right to her house and gave me some of hers. She would give you the tuque off her head."
Goddard was killed Wednesday night in a firefight with Taliban insurgents west of Kandahar. A member of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Goddard was serving as a forward artillery observer, helping direct fire at enemy positions from near the front lines, when the LAV III (Light Armoured Vehicle) she was riding in was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Goddard, 26, of Calgary, was married, with no children.
Although Canadian women lost their lives in action in both the First and Second world wars, Goddard was the first fatality in a combat role, opened to Canadian women in 1990.
Crawford, now based at Camp Nathan Smith just outside Kandahar, spoke to her just before she was deployed.
"She was tired, but she was looking forward to it," he said.
"She was going to be posted soon to Wainwright (Alta.), normally not a popular posting, and I was ribbing her a little. But she was very positive about it and looking forward to new challenges and opportunities."
That was Nichola and her husband Jason, said Crawford.
"They were a dynamic team as a couple," he said - organizing housewarmings, farewell gatherings or work parties whenever someone needed a fence built.
Goddard was particularly outgoing, said Crawford, and made a point of looking for people on the fringes of things in an attempt to bring them inside.
"She went out of her way to make people feel welcome."
The couple were also strong, active members of Crawford's church community.
Crawford added that Goddard found a way to balance her compassionate instincts with the distance required of an officer.
"While she recognized and knew her role, she always recognized and made sure her soldiers were taken care of - even if she wasn't the person doing the caring. I know a lot of her soldiers and I know that they respected her."
The battle, which finally ended Thursday, began when Afghan security received information that large numbers of Taliban were massing near the town of Panjwai, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar, where most of Canada's 2,300 soldiers in Afghanistan are based.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, to which Goddard had been attached, were supporting the Afghans by forming a ring around the battle area.
According to a coalition release, 18 Taliban militants were killed and 26 captured during the operation. Three Afghan National Army soldiers were wounded.
Crawford said he hopes Goddard's death doesn't erode Canadian support for the Afghanistan mission.
"It would be an absolute shame if the Canadian public got out of this somehow that our Canadian soldiers shouldn't be here," he said.
"Soldiers are a different breed of people. When things get rough, they bear down and concentrate on getting the job done.
"It's how they make meaning out of things a lot of the time."
© The Canadian Press, 2006
