For Sally and Tim Goddard, every day is about remembering their beloved daughter, who earlier this year became the highest ranking Canadian soldier to die in combat in Afghanistan.

Capt. Nichola Goddard appears in a February interview with CTV's Lisa LaFlamme.

Capt. Nichola Goddard died May 17 at the age of 26. She was caught in a Taliban ambush while she was directing artillery fire at enemy positions. With her infectious smile, her compassion and leadership qualities that helped her rise to position of combat soldier, the captain known as Care Bear came to symbolize the sacrifice of soldiers in Afghanistan.

With relatives that have fought in both world wars, the Goddard family has always participated in Remembrance Day ceremonies. This year, the day carries heartbreaking poignancy for them, as they prepare to lay down a wreath in Nichola's honour.

"We're taking things one day at a time, sometimes an hour at a time," Sally Goddard told CTV Calgary. "Every day is a remembering of some kind."

In line with Nichola's famous ability to take on life's challenges with a smile, Tim Goddard said he'll be doing more than just honouring his daughter's memory during the moment of silence on Nov. 11.

"I'll be remembering this vibrant young woman who we've lost and, in a joking way, telling her off for getting herself killed -- and making us go through all this," he said with a grin.

Princess Patricia's

Goddard was a member of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, based in Shilo, Man.

As part of Task Force Afghanistan, Goddard was serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry -- the backbone of Canada's battle group during the summer's fierce battles with insurgents in Kandahar.

Most of the Princess Patricia's call Edmonton Garrison their home.

Governor General Michaelle Jean reviews the Guard of Honour, comprised of members of the first and third battalions from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, before addressing the members of the Legislative Assembly in Edmonton, Thursday, May 4, 2006. (CP / Jeff McIntosh)

This Remembrance Day, the base will play host to a low-key gathering that revives an old tradition: a small, simple Remembrance Day ceremony that will honour the at least 13 soldiers based in Edmonton that were killed in Afghanistan since 2001.

Col. Alan Markewicz, commanding officer of the Edmonton Garrison, told CP that Canadians have witnessed many world war veterans shedding a tear in past decades.

But this year's Remembrance Day will be tragically different for some, he said.

"Now, we have a bunch of younger veterans standing there with the same memories. For a lot of the soldiers, it'll be more personal."

Markewicz added that fallen soldiers from all past battles deserve recognition.

"We've had some of our own soldiers killed recently, but there are a lot of white gravestones of soldiers that have been killed before. None are more important or less important in our memory."

Top soldier remembers

He has been on tours of Bosnia, Cyprus and Saraevo among others, but Brig.-Gen. David Fraser has just returned from the costliest mission for Canadians that he's seen yet.

Fraser landed on home turf earlier this week after finishing a grueling nine-month tour as Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan.

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser

Fraser wrapped up his term Nov. 1 and handed over command to Dutch forces. But the experience, he said, will stay with him forever, as will his memories of the troops who died fighting a renewed insurgency.

On his right wrist, Fraser wears a black bracelet: a reminder of two Canadian soldiers - Corporals Matt Dinning and Randy Payne -- who were part of his personal protection team.

They died along with Bombardier Myles Mansell and Lieut. William Turner, when their armoured G-wagon hit a massive roadside bomb on April 22 near Gumbad, north of Kandahar city.

Fraser told The Canadian Press that Nov. 11 is all the more poignant for those who have served in one of the world's most treacherous war zones.

"It's just a little bit closer to home," he said during a stopover at CFB Trenton, before he took off for Winnipeg and then to his family in Edmonton.

CommunitIES MOURN

With fresh memories of combat deaths in Afghanistan, ceremonies across Canada will carry a new poignancy on Nov. 11.

As the mission in Afghanistan has made war a very real part of many Albertans' lives, thousands of people in the Nova Scotia community of Truro are expected to gather at the town's cenotaph on Saturday to pay their respects.

There's a keen sense of loss in this small community, which lost four young men in Afghanistan who either grew up in this central Nova Scotia community or had ties there.

Leo Boudreau, president of the local legion, stands at the cenotaph in Truro, N.S., Canada on Friday Nov. 3, 2006. (CP / Andrew Vaughan)

They are:

• Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, 38, born in Truro;
• Cpl. Christopher Reid, 34, born in Truro;
• Sgt. Darcy Tedford, 32,raised in nearby Earltown; and
• Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, with parents who live in nearby Tatamagouche.

Sandy Mellish, the mother of Frank, said with a small community comes a greater closeness during a period of loss.

"There's such an outpouring of love and support and sympathy toward our family," she told CP. "I'm sure we've received 400 cards. People care -- it's evident they care -- but nothing cuts that pain, nothing," she added.

Mellish said Remembrance Day ceremonies should give people across the country a chance to show their appreciation for the troops.

"I think everyone who walks the streets of Canada free owes my son a thank you," she told CP. "If they don't mention it verbally, then it should be in their hearts."

The Reid and Mellish families plan on laying wreaths at the Truro cenotaph.

Progress

For Master Cpl. Paul Franklin, the day brings an opportunity to express thanks for the medical progress made available for surviving veterans of war.

Franklin lost both his legs in a suicide bomb attack that killed Canadian Diplomat Glyn Berry on Jan. 15, 2006.

The attack occurred as Canadian soldiers were returning to their base in enclosed armoured jeeps.

Master Cpl. Paul Franklin says 'We celebrate the soldiers and the veterans, the spouses and the families.'

Franklin recently recounted his horrible ordeal. He told CP that after he was thrown from the vehicle, with his hair and face on fire, he saw the tip of his leg bone sticking out and one of his legs lying about "three or four feet" away from him.

Franklin said without the benefit of the body armour and improved medical care, he would have died.

Many believed Cpl. Jeffrey Bailey, who suffered devastating head injuries and other complications in the same attack, was certain to die in hospital.

But a rapid medical response effort saved him, and five months later he was telling a news conference how doctors had removed a piece of his skull to relieve pressure on his swollen brain -- and replacing it when the swelling went down.

Franklin said the improvements in medical care come from the increase in knowledge doctors have gained from working on cases such as his.

"Through every major war, amputee care has improved, and the reason is the number of people coming back wounded or injured," he told CP.

"Everyone in Canada will get better care in the end because of what these soldiers have done and what they sacrificed."

"On Nov. 11, we should just be thankful and be ready to reap the rewards.

While many wounded Canadian soldiers choose to heal in private, Franklin has been very vocal about his challenging road to recovery.

He put his words into action by starting the Northern Alberta Amputee Program, non-profit group aimed at raising funds for research on amputee care, as well as starting a support group for amputees.

Goddard's father, Tim, has likewise become an eloquent spokesman for other families struggling with grief over losing loved ones.

He has expressed hope that the conflict in Afghanistan would end so that his daughter's death will not have been in vain.

Canadians, he added, need to better educate themselves about the political process and how their votes can effect the country's war policy.

"There will be a vote, I assume, at some point to determine if we will extend (the Afghanistan mission) beyond 2009," he told CP.

"I'm not going either way on that; I believe we're there for the duration of this mission."

Whatever opinion they may have, Goddard is urging Canadians to get more involved in the debate over the future of the Afghan mission.

"The last vote that was taken, the one that was won by only four votes, was the afternoon that Nichola died," he said. "I don't know how many Canadians can say, 'I know which way my MP voted on that afternoon,'" Goddard said.

He said he hopes this Remembrance Day will also be about celebrating the values his daughter held dear.

"I think we celebrate not only the fallen, but those who continue to serve."