A TowDog

Via West Point.org, I’m told by a friend that 1LT Goeke is the first KIA from the USMA Class of 2008.

My friend added; “I hope it won’t be in vain…”

Me too, bro…

Cullum: 64415

Class: ’08

Cadet Company: B1

Date of Birth:

Date of Death: July 13, 2010 - View or Post a Eulogy

LT Goeke died July 13 in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with rifle, rocket propelled grenade, and small arms fire. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

A Star Man at West Point, he graduated 6th in his class.

He married his wife, Kelsey, just 18 months ago. He was scheduled to return home from Afghanistan in one month, and planned to attend captains’ school in Colorado.

His facebook page lists this as his favorite quote:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Teddy Roosevelt

Killed with him were Staff Sgt. Christopher T. Stout, 34, of Worthville, Ky., and Staff Sgt. Sheldon L. Tate, 27, of Hinesville, Ga.

He is survived by his wife, parents, brother and sisters.