« New Tribes Mission Confronts '80s Sex-abuse Allegations | Main | Regent University: We’re Not Struggling to Stay Afloat »
September 2, 2010
Army Chaplain First to Die in Combat since Vietnam
Capt. Dale Allen Goetz, a Baptist minister from Oregon, was killed in a roadside bombing.
(RNS) A Baptist minister from Oregon who was killed in Afghanistan on August 30 is the first Army chaplain to die in combat since Vietnam, according to the Army.
Capt. Dale Allen Goetz, 43, died in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan's Arghandab River Valley. He had been in Afghanistan less than a month. Four other Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers were also killed in the attack.
Goetz is the 124th service member with strong ties to Oregon to die in Afghanistan or Iraq. But as a chaplain, he was a noncombatant and unarmed.
The more than 400 Army chaplains in Iraq or Afghanistan are military officers. Their job is to reach soldiers on the battlefield, to provide religious support and to perform services or rites, said Lt. Col.
Carleton Birch, a spokesman for the Army Chief of Chaplains.
An armed chaplain's assistant travels with each. The first assistant to die in the wars was killed in Afghanistan last month, Birch said.
Goetz attended Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis. He completed his Master of Divinity degree in 2000 at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, an independent Baptist seminary in Minnesota. He was pastor of a church in White, S.D., until he joined the Army and began his work toward chaplaincy in 2000.
He served with the infantry at Fort Lewis, Wash., then three years in Okinawa, Japan, until he was transferred to Colorado in January. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson. He served 11 months in Iraq in 2004-05.
Survivors include his wife and three children ages 10, 8, and 1. Funeral services are planned in Colorado Springs, Colo., with burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the seminary Goetz attended. He completed his Master of Divinity degree at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, an independent Baptist seminary in Minnesota.
Comments
Capt. Goetz actually graduated from Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis, Minnesota, not the one located in Kansas City, Missouri.
Posted By: Ryan Martin | September 2, 2010 5:57 PM
I am so, so sorry. Prayers to his wife and children. My son is in the military too...so I understand. May God Bless you.
Posted By: Diana Ms. | September 2, 2010 5:57 PM
What a waste of life and what a waste of trillions of dollars in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan!!!
Posted By: Jack Pit | September 2, 2010 8:42 PM
He was not with ABC but with ACCC.
Posted By: Paul Golden | September 3, 2010 12:57 PM
RIP.
Posted By: Andrew | September 3, 2010 3:04 PM
My deepest sympathy. My nephew is an Army Chaplain and will deploy to Afganistan next month. I know the important work they do for our soldiers. God Bless all the chaplains in the Armed Services.
Posted By: Patty Stevens | September 3, 2010 7:52 PM
To fulfill one's call is life in itself. There is no such waste when life is unselfishly given to God's purpose. "Only one life, 'twill soon be passed; but what's lived for Christ shall last" (Anon). If Jack Pit only thinks of life here on earth and the fleeting nature of dollars, he's missing the point of life dedicated to the Master's cause. Prayers toward the survivors are more fitting for the passing away of a man of God. To God be the glory.
Posted By: Ray Paano | September 3, 2010 10:37 PM
Military Chaplains have a hard life to serve besides leaving thier own families behind to serve thier country; however, God knows what speical needs have to be accomplish in a short time. This Chaplain did not die in vain or alone because he died with four other souls and now - they are all in one place resting in peace and not in turmoil. May God continue to bless his family during thier grief and loss. Here in New Mexico, we mourn for thier families and we send our prayers to them today.
Posted By: Jose | September 4, 2010 3:50 PM
Dale served in the Air Force from 1986-1990 had a break in service and then rejoined as a Chaplain in January of 2004.
Posted By: Christina | September 6, 2010 6:58 AM
Dios bendiga y fortalezca a su familia,
el era un hombre de Dios, estuvo recientemente en Okinawa
y tuve la oportunidad de conocerlo por su servicio a Dios
y sus mensajes eran de fortaleza,
que este en la gloria con el Padre celestial,
el consuelo grande en una partida como esta, es saber que servia a Dios.
( May God bless and strengthen his family, he was a man of God, who was recently in Okinawa and I had the opportunity to meet him in his service to God and his strong messages for the glory of the heavenly Father, May you find great comfort in this race knowing that he served God).
Posted By: N.Abednego | September 9, 2010 1:10 AM