The Whig-Standard

Photo: The Whig-Standard

RMC grad killed in Afghan battle

The Whig-Standard and News Services Local News - Thursday, May 18, 2006 @ 07:00

The Whig-Standard and News Services

The soldier killed in a firefight in Afghanistan yesterday was a recent Royal Military College graduate flagged as one of the Forces’ best and brightest young officers.

Capt. Nichola Goddard, 26, a combat engineer with the 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based in Shilo, Man., was remembered fondly by local military people who knew her either from her time at the college, from which she graduated in 2002, or from participating in courses with her afterward.

Goddard was killed in action 24 kilometres west of Kandahar. She was the country’s first female to die in combat since the Second World War. "I can’t tell you what a good person she was," said Maj. Anne Reifflestein, a division commander at Royal Military College who knew Goddard well from training her in Shilo and who was shaken at the news of her death yesterday. "She was smart and brilliant and an excellent officer in the Canadian Forces. It’s a real loss to the Forces, and to the nation."

While at Royal Military College, Goddard volunteered as a Scout leader with 4th Kingston Group, which met at St. Andrew’s Church. Her fellow Scout leader was the cadet she would marry, Jason Beam. He has since left the military. The couple have no children. Scott Barrett, who was district Scouts’ commissioner at the time, said Goddard was warmly remembered by local Scouts and said for the couple to give up time to volunteer in the community while also meeting the heavy academic, sports and military demands of RMC was extraordinary. “For the two of them to come off the campus and volunteer with a community organization was just incredible,” he said last night. Goddard’s death devastated her friends and family back home. Beam told CBC’s The National last night that her death had not sunk in yet, adding she’d called him just Tuesday excited about her coming mission. She was due to return home in September, he said, and looked forward to it. Goddard, who was a fitness buff and who was looking at competing in marathons and triathlons, was marked for “rapid future advancement” as an officer, a personnel notation reserved for the best and the brightest of the officer corps. “I’m basically in shock,” said Reifflestein. “Nick was the kind of person who would have made a difference. She was such a good person.” Goddard was born in Papua, New Guinea, in 1980 and was living in Nova Scotia when she joined the military in 1998. The circumstances of her death were not clear last night, but soldiers from the 1st Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, to which Goddard had been attached, were supporting an Afghan force by forming a ring around the battle area, said Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, commander of the multinational brigade based in Kandahar. “We were there to back them up and support them, providing outer cordons. All the inner work was being done by the Afghan security forces,” Fraser said last night. “There was a firefight out there and sometime during the firefight she was killed.” Fighting had stopped last night, but Fraser said the operation was expected to continue today. “Our hearts, our prayers and our sympathies go out to the family of Nichola Goddard,” said Fraser. “It’s a hard day, but it’s also a day of achievements here. The government of Afghanistan and the Afghan national security forces have had a good successful day. There was significant Taliban casualties both killed and captured. “Unfortunately, the cost today was the life of Nichola,” Fraser said. Canadian forces were acting in support of the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Army, who had received information that a large number of Taliban fighters were massing in the Panjwai district, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar, an area that has seen off-and-on fighting for weeks, said Fraser. Even as Canada’s mission was debated on Parliament Hill, Fraser said the commitment of Goddard and all Canadian soldiers has never wavered. “This is an important mission,” he said. “This a mission that the soldiers believe in. This is a mission that the soldiers continue to go out every day and prosecute with passion. “Nichola was doing a job that she loved. Everyone around me said that she loved what she was doing. She’s indicative of all the men and women serving over here in Afghanistan and Canadians should be proud of the work that their soldiers are doing in a very difficult environment.” In Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed the regret of a mourning country. “Capt. Goddard died while helping to bring peace, stability and democracy to a troubled region of the world,” Harper said in a statement. “She, and the other men and women who serve in Afghanistan, are involved in a difficult and dangerous mission. They are serving our country and its people with distinction. Our nation will not forget their sacrifice.” Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, who is also commander in chief of the country’s military, added her voice to the regret last night. “It was with deep emotion that I learned, upon my return from Haiti, of the death of Capt. Nichola Goddard in a firefight in Afghanistan earlier today,” she said. “Capt. Goddard’s death reminds us once again of the risks that our Canadian troops, both men and women, face everyday in Afghanistan.” Manitoba Premier Gary Doer also expressed regret. “On behalf of the people of Manitoba, we respect her life of bravery and honour on behalf of Canada, and we offer our condolences to the family and to the community of Shilo,” he said. Canada has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, most of them in Kandahar, as part of an international effort to help the Kabul government assert its authority and fight Taliban insurgents, who have been engaging the U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces in hostilities in many parts of the country. Goddard has become the 17th Canadian killed in Afghanistan since 2002. One diplomat and 16 soldiers have died, including four killed in a friendly-fire bombing by a U.S. warplane.