Saturday, September 04, 2010
Capt. Dale Goetz
Captain Dale A. Goetz became the first U.S. Army chaplain to die in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. Goetz, 43, was killed on August 30 in Afghanistan after he hitched a ride with a supply convoy in the Arghandab River Valley. The vehicle that the captain from White, South Dakota, was riding in struck a roadside bomb, killing him and four other soldiers. As part of his service, Goetz travelled to different locations in Afghanistan to minister to hundreds of soldiers. He joined the Army in 2000 and served in Iraq in 2004-2005.
Before Goetz, the last Army chaplain to die in combat was Phillip Nichols in Vietnam in October 1970. The Army has more than 2,800 chaplains, with about 400 stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Goetz is survived by his wife, Christy, their three sons, Landon, Caleb and Joel, his mother, Hope and his sisters, Ann and Kim.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Army: Chaplain is 1st Killed in Action Since '70 (by Dan Elliott, Associated Press)
Chaplain with S.D. Ties Dies in Attack (by Brenda Wade Schmidt, Sioux Falls Argus Leader)
Slain Chaplain Found His Faith in Oregon (by Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian)
Where Were You the Night Before? (by Dale Goetz, Elizabeth, CO Independent)
Comments