Tuesday, December 23, 2003

'A TRUE HERO

Victim of Iraqi bomb honored on West Shore

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN

Seven soldiers carried Kimberley Fahnestock Voelz's flag-draped casket to her final resting place.

Seven more stood nearby, rifles at the ready to honor their fallen comrade.

As the echoes of the third and final volley of their 21-gun salute rang off the nearby hillside, a distant bugler blew taps. And as Staff Sgt. Voelz was laid to rest yesterday, a second bugler echoed the mournful refrain.

Voelz, 27, was killed Dec. 14 in Iraq when an improvised bomb that she was trying to defuse exploded. She died in a military hospital near Baghdad airport.

Voelz had joined the Army in search of adventure, her mother, Carol Fahnestock, told hundreds of mourners who gathered at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mechanicsburg. Her daughter, she said, wanted to see the world.

An Explosive Ordinance Disposal team leader with the 703rd Ordinance Company, Voelz was highly regarded for her skills and courage, said her commander, Col. Steven C. Moores. Remembering Voelz as one of EOD's elite members, Moores said she was "bright and talented" and "a quick learner."

The same Army that took her around the world brought her back home. Her burial site in Gate of Heaven Cemetery is just down the road from her grandmother's house and not far from the horse farm where she spent her childhood.

Most of the soldiers at the service wore the distinctive black, red and gold EOD patch on their shoulders. A close-knit group, EOD members cross service lines. All bomb-disposal specialists, from all branches, train together. Yesterday, they paid their respects together.

Even some of the civilians sported the fraternal lapel pin, a smaller version of the silver bomb and laurels shared by all EOD specialists.

Moores told mourners how Voelz had worked with the Secret Service, sweeping for bombs before presidential visits. Another soldier said he met Voelz when they were assigned to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Voelz also had been on security details for papal visits.

Stationed in Iraq since Sept. 26, she was a team leader. Army Staff Sgt. Max Voelz, whom Kimberley married in 1999 after they met in bomb school, was stationed at a different base in Iraq. They were the only husband-wife pairing in the EOD.

Yesterday, he was presented with three polished shell casings from the salute to his wife. The casings -- representing duty, honor and country-- were tucked inside the folded flag that had draped her coffin.

The bomb that killed Voelz was the 41st she had encountered in Iraq. Moores said he does not know just how it happened. An investigation is under way. Moores does know something about the other 40 bombs, though.

"She was a hero in every sense of the word," Moores said. "She saved countless lives by defusing those bombs."

Eulogizing her daughter, Carol Fahnestock talked about a "very special and courageous young woman."

"She didn't ask our advice or opinion when she joined the Army," Fahnestock recalled. "She told us 'I am young and single. I want to see the world and do exciting things.'"

In a statement after the service, her older brother, Mark, said, "I want to tell you how proud my family is of my sister. She was a true hero and will always be my hero. She gave her life for our country."

Voelz is the 10th U.S. military woman to die in the Iraq war and the first female from Pennsylvania to be killed there. In May, her name will be added to the EOD Memorial Wall at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. She is the first female bomb specialist to die in Iraq.

During the funeral Mass, Voelz was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor. The medals were pinned to the dress uniform in which she was buried, along with nine other medals and various ribbons. The Trinity High School graduate had just re-enlisted and planned to make the Army her career.

The Rev. Chester Snyder talked about Voelz's love of her country and the ideals that the United States embraces. "Kim lived and died for the nation she loved and a cause she believed in," said Snyder, who pointed out how Voelz had come full circle.

Her final service was in the same church where she and Max were married. It was the same church where she celebrated confirmation and her first communion, next door to the old building in which she was baptized.

CHRIS A. COUROGEN: 975-9784 or ccourogen@patriot-news.com RELATED LINKS:
'She died in his arms'
A true hero buried on West Shore
Love grew with their careers
Salute to sacrifice