In Afghanistan, Canada's female soldiers earned the right to fight, and die, as equals .

 Capt. Nichola Goddard in the Shah Wali Kot district during Operation Peacemaker, an effort launched in March to disrupt Taliban activities and win alliances among village leaders.Photograph by: Handout , Supplied Image

By Valerie Fortney, Postmedia News
In the early hours of May 17, 2006, Capt. Nich Goddard and another junior officer led more than 200 Canadian and Afghan army soldiers into Afghanistan's Panjwaii district.
By midday, Goddard became the first Canadian soldier since the Korean War to execute a fire mission in support of Canadian troop manoeuvres against a known enemy.
A few hours later, Goddard was killed in a firefight.
The 17th Canadian soldier death in Afghanistan sent shock waves across Canada. It was not Goddard's historical mission that generated headlines, though, but her gender: the 26-year-old officer's given names were Nichola Kathleen Sarah...Continue reading...