Captain Dale A Goetz KIA
Captain Dale Goetz and his wife, Christina
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 30 in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. All were based at Fort Carson, Colo.
Killed were:
Capt. Dale A Goetz, 43, of White, S.D. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, of Cypress, Texas. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, of Canton, Ohio. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, 36, of Conover, Wis. He was assigned to the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group.
Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26, of Huntington, Ind. He was assigned to the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
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AIP
The official message from the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army through the Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Navy:
It is with my deepest sympathy and utmost respect that I announce to our Chaplain Corps that Chaplain (CPT) Dale A. Goetz was killed in action in Afghanistan on August 30, 2010 while serving as the Battalion Chaplain for 1-66th Armor Battalion, 4th Infantry Division. Dale was one of five Soldiers killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while traveling in a convoy near Kandahar Province. Chaplain Goetz is survived by his wife, Christy, and by their three sons- Landon, Caleb and Joel.Chaplain Goetz is the first military chaplain killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. Dale was a selfless servant of God, a devoted husband and father, a strong American patriot, and a compassionate spiritual leader whose love for Soldiers was only surpassed by his firm commitment to living his calling as a United States Army Chaplain.
Please join with me in prayer for Christy, Landon, Caleb and Joel as we mourn with them in the loss of Dale, our fellow Soldier and Unit Ministry Team member. Let us also strive to honor Dale’s sacrifice with a continuing bold commitment to ensure the finest religious support and pastoral care possible for our beloved Soldiers and their Families.
May God bless the Goetz Family and the Families of all our Fallen Soldiers; and, may God bless our Army and the United States of America.
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KDVR Fox 31
Vonnie Lucas, a member who sometimes baby-sat for Goetz and his wife, says news of his death is devastating. She says the 43-year-old Goetz had “a heart for people.”
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Argus Leader
“He was definitely very passionate about his job, and the reason he became a chaplain is because he wanted to see soldiers trust in Jesus Christ,” said the Rev. Jason Parker of High Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs. “Even his death put the seal on his desire that men would see that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.”
Goetz, his wife, Christy, and their sons, Landon, 10; Caleb, 8; and Joel, who will turn 1 this month; joined the church in July and were voted into membership Sunday, the day before he died. The family moved to Colorado Springs in January from Okinawa, Japan, where he previously was stationed. He was deployed July 25 to Afghanistan, according to military records.
Until joining the Colorado church, the family had remained members of First Baptist in White while Goetz was stationed at various places, said Vonnie Lucas, a member who sometimes babysat the couple’s two oldest boys. The church kept in contact with Goetz, who served the church from November 2000 to December 2003.
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Houston Chronicle
Goetz, who was in the Chaplain Corps., entered the Army in January 2000. He was deployed to Iraq from November 2004 to September 2005 and was in Afghanistan since July 25. He received the Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.
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Oregonian
Goetz grew up in Hood River, an athlete whose first job was at an old-fashioned dairy where he processed milk and sold ice cream at a drive-up window, Ashby said.
A year before he graduated in 1986, he prayed with his principal, Oscar Stenberg III, and another student to receive Jesus Christ.
“From that point, it was like a light was on in him,” Stenberg said.
Goetz enlisted in the Air Force, then went on to Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis. He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree, according to the college website, and met his wife, Christina, there. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Minneapolis in 2000. He was pastor of a church in White, S.D., until he joined the Army and began his work toward chaplaincy in 2000.
Table of contents for Military Chaplains
- Jesus Walks the Battlefield
- Father Martin C. Hoehn
- Church: Chaplains are heroes, too.
- Chaplain Gave All-Chaplain (Major) Henry T. Vakoc
- Father Vincent Capodanno
- Father Elmer Heindl
- Father Heindl Saved America
- Father Leo – Saving Souls in Iraq
- Father (Capt.) Emil Kapaun
- Priest Called to Serve – in the Army
- Former Stunt Man Makes Leap to Airborne Ministry
- Female Chaplains Serve God and Country
- West Point Priest in Iraq
- Father Tim Never Surrendered
- Guard Member Earns Chaplain of Year Award
- Aiding God and Country: Chaplain Assistants
- To one Marine chaplain, karma is everything
- New Zealand chaplain making a difference to Afghan orphans
- St. Elijah’s Monastery in Iraq
- Captain Dale A Goetz KIA
- Mass celebrated in a far away land
- Serving God and the troops in Kyrgyzstan
- A breeze and a Bible changed her life
- Our Best: Spc. Heather Lane
- Military service a testimony of faith
- Father Emil Kapaun to be awarded Medal of Honor
the attachments to this post:
Christina and Dale Goetz
This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 am and is filed under War on Terror, Afghanistan, Military, War on Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
