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Army: Chaplain Is 1st Killed In Action Since '70
Dale Goetz Died Was Among 5 Fort Carson Soldiers Killed By IED Monday
POSTED: 11:29 am MDT September 2, 2010
DENVER -- The military says a Colorado chaplain who died in Afghanistan is the first Army member of the clergy killed in action since the Vietnam War. Capt. Dale Goetz of the 4th Infantry Division at Colorado's Fort Carson was among five Fort Carson soldiers killed by an improvised bomb on Monday.His mother, Hope Goetz, an Elbert County commissioner, traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday to meet her son's remains, friends say.
A spokesman for the chief of chaplains said Goetz was the first Army chaplain killed in combat since October 1970. It wasn't immediately clear whether any Air Force, Marine or Navy chaplains have been killed in action since then. Officials for those services didn't immediately return calls. There are more than 400 Army chaplains in Iraq or Afghanistan.
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The Dale A Goetz Memorial Trust Fund to help Army Chaplains minister to soldiers is being set up at the Bank at Broadmoor, 155 Lake Ave. Colorado Springs, CO. 80906
The 43-year-old Goetz listed his hometown as White, S.D., and served as a pastor at First Baptist Church there. He joined the Army in 2000 and previously deployed to Iraq in 2004.Survivors include his wife, Christina, 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.
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- September 2, 2010: 5 Fort Carson Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan
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