[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15802]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING UNITED STATES ARMY CAPTAIN DALE A. GOETZ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, United States Army Captain Dale 
A. Goetz, an Air Force veteran with ties to Colorado, joined the Army's 
chaplaincy out of a strong desire to help others.
  Captain Dale Goetz and his wife Christy both graduated from Maranatha 
Baptist Bible College in 1995. He was a former pastor of First Baptist 
Church in White, South Dakota before being stationed at military bases 
throughout the world.
  Earlier this year, Captain Goetz was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 
66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division at 
Fort Carson, Colorado, and the family moved to Colorado Springs in 
January of 2010. This allowed his wife Christy and their sons Landon, 
Caleb and Joel to be closer to his mother, Hope Goetz, an Elbert County 
commissioner.
  Captain Goetz and his family joined High Country Baptist Church in 
Colorado Springs the day before he deployed to Afghanistan. Captain 
Goetz, who had previously served in Iraq, cared about the soldiers he 
worked with as an Army chaplain, and according to his pastor at High 
Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, his goal as a chaplain was 
not to be a social worker but to be a spiritual guide. Captain Goetz is 
described as having ``a calm demeanor that helped soldiers find 
strength in the darkest of times,'' according to Reverend Stuart 
Schwenke, a fellow pastor he had gone through ministerial training 
with.
  On August 30, 2010, Captain Goetz was on a mission in Arghandab River 
Valley, Afghanistan when insurgents attacked his unit with an 
improvised explosive device which detonated near their military 
vehicle.

                              {time}  1730

  Captain Goetz was gravely wounded and died of injuries sustained 
during the attack. Four of his fellow soldiers from Fort Carson, 
Colorado, were also killed in action as a result of the incident.
  Captain Dale A. Goetz is a shining example of the United States 
Army's service and sacrifice. As a former member of the United States 
Army and a retired Marine Corps combat veteran, my deepest sympathies 
go out to his mother, Hope Goetz, an Elbert County Commissioner; his 
wife, Christy; their sons, Landon, Caleb, and Joel; and his sisters, 
Ann Senetar and Kim Sumner.

                          ____________________