Posted on 12/16/2003 5:01:36 AM PST by veronica
Hours after a bomb exploded in front of Army Staff Sgt. Kimberley Fahnestock Voelz in Iraq, she died in a military hospital in the arms of her husband.
Voelz's death Sunday was caused by the explosion of a bomb she was defusing. The blast nearly tore off her left leg and filled her body with shrapnel. Only the quick action of a fellow soldier, who applied a tourniquet to her injured leg, kept her from dying on the spot.
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As Voelz, 27, was being taken to the hospital, her husband, Staff Sgt. Max Voelz, who was stationed nearby, received word of the incident. He rushed to her side at the military hospital at the Baghdad airport.
She died a few hours later.
"Max feels like he left us down, but he didn't," said Floyd Fahnestock, her father. "He was there to hold her when she died. God wanted that."
A 1994 graduate of Trinity High School in Lower Allen Twp., Kimberley Voelz is the second person from the midstate to be killed in the conflict in Iraq. Army Sgt. Timothy L. Hayslett of Lower Mifflin Twp. was killed Nov. 15 by an explosive device thrown at his vehicle while he was on patrol.
Few details of the incident that killed Kimberley Voelz are known. The military has yet to release any information about her death. The details of her last moments were supplied by her family.
All Kimberley Voelz's parents know is what their son-in-law said when he first called to tell them she had been wounded: Kimberley had gone in to identify an explosive device and an accident happened.
"At 12:12 a.m. Sunday, we got a call from Max," said Floyd Fahnestock, a Vietnam veteran who now runs an accounting firm. "He said she had been hurt and was in critical condition. She had shrapnel in both legs, her spine, her kidney and a punctured lung.
"At 3 a.m. he called us back to tell us they had removed the lower part of her left leg and that she had more surgery to go through," said Fahnestock. "At 6 a.m. we got another call from him telling us she had died at 5:45. He told me she had died in his arms."
Kimberley and Max Voelz were both staff sergeants with the 703rd Explosives Ordnance Disposal group from Fort Knox, Ky. The couple met during bomb disposal training and wed four years ago at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mechanicsburg.
The two were members of separate teams, with Max stationed at the unit's main base and Kimberley at a satellite base nearby.
"She did five to seven missions a day," said Floyd Fahnestock. "She would tell me about some of the stuff that happens over there just like I would talk about doing a tax return."
The Fahnestocks, who live in Monroe Twp., are also proud that their daughter died a hero. The Bronze Star and Purple Heart were awarded to Kimberley posthumously and will be pinned to her uniform when she is buried.
"She believed in what she was doing over there to help the Iraqi people," said Carol Fahnestock, Kimberley's mother. "She died for America."
That their daughter had chosen such a dangerous specialty when she enlisted in the Army eight years ago came as no surprise to the Fahnestocks, or to others who knew her well.
"My sister has been a daredevil all her life," said her younger brother, Chad. "She liked the adventure."
The second of four children, Kimberley had little time for boys in high school. Her after-school hours were consumed by her passion for horses.
A two-time state horse show champion in the Western Pleasure class, she also was a top-notch barrel racer, the equestrian activity she turned to when regular showing got too boring.
"She just loved to have excitement," Floyd Fahnestock said.
Voelz's body is expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware around noon today.
Her husband is accompanying her on the trip home.
Funeral arrangements are still being finalized. The viewing will be held at Malpezzi Funeral Home in Mechanicsburg, with a Mass of Christian Burial to be held at St. Joseph. Voelz will be buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery with full military honors.
Voelz was the 10th woman to die in the conflict in Iraq.
I think you have the left confused with certain elements of FR. Oh, forget the crocodile tears; it will be nannyish handwringing about women in combat.
RIP, Soldier. Prayers to her husband and family.
What a sad story, but she did not die in vain. We salute To take care of explosives?
It is shocking how many military women are moms.
If you were to investigate a bit, you'd probably be shocked to learn that many male soldiers in the military are also fathers.
EOD is one of those fields where dexterity and coolness counts more than plumbing.
That's for the Army and the individual in question to decide.
I don't really mind a smarta55 answer from the person I address but you stuck your nose in just asking for it to get bit off.
Well, I might've stuck my nose in but it hasn't gotten bit off yet, LOL! Not by you anyway. It's an open forum. Lot's of noses sticking in everywhere. Deal with it.
Wouldn't risk my children being motherless for anything, but people make foolish choices all the time.
It's a dangerous world out there. You take risk every time you step out your front door.
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