Dale A Goetz

White, South Dakota

August 30, 2010

 Killed in the Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

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October 9, 2010

Church Mourns Loss of U.S. Army Chaplain in Afghanistan

Sat, Sep. 04, 2010 Posted: 10:47 AM EDT

Members of Capt. Dale Goetz’s church back in Colorado Springs are mourning the loss of the U.S. Army chaplain following his death earlier this week.

“He had a great burden for the soldiers,” recalled Jason Parker, pastor of High Country Baptist Church of Colorado Springs. “His specific prayer request was to see 300 soldiers come to Christ. He was also praying for God to call ten of those soldiers into the ministry. That was one of his specific prayer requests.”

Goetz, 43, was killed near Afghanistan's Kandahar Province when an improvised explosive device struck his convoy as it was traveling on Aug. 30. Four other soldiers were also killed but Goetz was reportedly the first U.S. military chaplain killed in action since the Vietnam War.

“Dale was a selfless servant of God, a devoted husband and father, a strong American patriot, and a compassionate spiritual leader,” said the Army Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver in a statement.

Goetz’s love for soldiers, he added, “was only surpassed by his firm commitment to living his calling as a United States Army Chaplain.”

Before joining the army as a chaplain in 2000, Goetz served as a pastor at First Baptist Church in his hometown of White, S.D. Aside from Afghanistan, Goetz had also served as war zone chaplain in Iraq for almost a year in 2005.

Goetz was transferred to Colorado in January after three years in Okinawa, Japan.

A 1995 graduate of Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis., Goetz officially became a member of High Country Baptist Church on Aug. 1 - the day he was deployed. Goetz had been in Afghanistan less than a month when he died.

“We officially voted them into the membership Sunday,” Parker reported.

“God was using him. He was very actively witnessing. He didn’t want to be just a social worker. He wanted to see soldiers hear the Gospel and trust Christ,” the pastor added.

A funeral has been set for Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. at Soldiers' Memorial Chapel at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. According to reports, Goetz will be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

Goetz is survived by wife, Christy, and three sons – Landon, Caleb, and Joel. His youngest son, Joel, was born in July of 2009.

Joshua A. Goldberg
Christian Post Reporter 

Captain Dale Goetz, Chaplain

Captain Dale Goetz cared about the soldiers he served as an Army chaplain—both their physical and spiritual needs.

“He had a great burden for the soldiers,” said Jason Parker, pastor of High Country Baptist Church of Colorado Springs. “His specific prayer request was to see 300 soldiers come to Christ. He was also praying for God to call 10 of those soldiers into the ministry. That was one of his specific prayer requests.

“God was using him. He was very actively witnessing. He didn’t want to be just a social worker. He wanted to see soldiers hear the Gospel and trust Christ.”

Goetz, 43, a 1995 Maranatha graduate, died Monday morning, Aug. 30, in Afghanistan while serving as an Army chaplain. Parker said Goetz was one of five men killed by a roadside bomb while traveling in a convoy near Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan. His death was also confirmed in an Internet posting by Ralph Colas, Executive Secretary of the American Council of Christian Churches. Goetz was one of the group’s approved chaplains. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Goetz told friends three soldiers had accepted Christ since he arrived in Afghanistan.

The funeral will be Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. at Prussman Chapel at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. Interment will be at 2:30 p.m. at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver

The Associated Press, quoting the Army's chief of chaplains, said Goetz is the first Army chaplain to die in combat since October, 1970. A chaplain's assistant was killed in Afghanistan last month.

Goetz is survived by wife Christy (Moen), also a 1995 Maranatha graduate, and three sons--Landon, Caleb, and Joel. His youngest son, Joel, was born in July of 2009.

Long-time Maranatha faculty and staff members said they could not recall any alumnus having been killed in action since the Vietnam War.

Parker said the Goetz family had been transferred to Colorado in January after three years in Okinawa, Japan. They were interviewed for membership at High Country Baptist Church on Aug. 1, the day he was deployed. Goetz had been in Afghanistan less than a month when he died.

“We officially voted them into the membership Sunday,” Parker said.

Goetz had expressed a desire for less rigid enforcement of apparel guidelines and other lower-priority rules for soldiers in combat in this Washington Post article. He also articulated the differences between Muslim and Christian approaches to salvation in this editorial for The Independent of Elizabeth, Colo.

He officiated at the 2006 funeral of Gerard Rugers Jr. The World War II U.S. Army Air Corps radio operator died in 1944, but his remains were not discovered until the fall of 2005 in the Himalayas.

Dale Allen Goetz came to Maranatha from Colorado. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Bible. He played one year of football and two years of baseball for the Crusaders and was president of the missions prayer band as a senior. He was also named the Outstanding Greek Student as a senior.

“I do remember him as a very outgoing person, very friendly,” said Maranatha mathematics professor Phil Price, who played football and baseball with Goetz and also graduated in 1995. “I think he may have been older when he came, somewhere in his mid-20s. He and his wife were a very nice couple.

“Dale was a great guy. You could tell he was serious about wanting to serve God in whatever he was going to be called into.”

Goetz 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 beginning his work toward chaplaincy. Goetz was commissioned in January of 2004.

He served with the infantry at Fort Lewis, Wash., before being transferred to Okinawa. Goetz 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. Goetz had earned the Meritorious Service Medal and was a three-time recipient of the Army Commendation Medal.
The Dale A Goetz Memorial Trust Fund is being set up at the Bank at Broadmoor, 155 Lake Ave., Colorado Springs, CO, 80906. The fund is designated to help provide materials for Army chaplains to use as they minister to soldiers.

--Posted Aug. 31, 2010

For first time in Iraq or Afghanistan wars, U.S. military chaplain is killed
For the first time in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a U.S. military chaplain has been killed in action.

On August 30, U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Dale Goetz, 43, was killed in the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan, when the convoy he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense. Four other soldiers also were killed in the attack.

Goetz was serving as the battalion chaplain for the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment.

Friends and co-workers said Goetz was a dedicated father and chaplain. He leaves behind a wife and three sons.

The Army's chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, said in a statement, "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."

Senior Pastor Stuart Schwenke of First Baptist Church in Oelwein, Iowa, attended seminary with Goetz. Schwenke said they talked at least once a month and he had talked to Goetz just days before he deployed in July.

"He was not a drill sergeant," Schwenke said. "He did not jab a finger in your chest. He put a hand on your shoulder and got you to understand what was going on in your life. Dale helped you to get things right with God and other people."

Goetz's tour in Afghanistan was his second deployment. He joined the Army in January 2000, and in 2004 he spent a year serving in Iraq.

He loved his sons and hated being away from them, Schwenke said.

"Dale was an outdoorsman and a sportsman. He would take the boys into the woods and show them the trails. He would take them fishing. Dale wanted his boys to grow up to be men," Schwenke said.

According to the Defense Department, the other soldiers killed in the attack were Staff Sgt. Jesse Infante, 30, Staff Sgt. Kevin J. Kessler, 32, Staff Sgt. Matthew J. West, and Pfc. Chad D. Clements, 26. All five were stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado.

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report.