Army 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins

Died August 15, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Bonner Springs, Kan.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Aug. 15 by hostile fire in Najaf, Iraq.

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Fort Hood soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A soldier who was killed in an attack in Najaf, Iraq, was a high school valedictorian from Bonner Springs, Kan., who was “born to be a soldier,” his father said.

The Defense Department said Tuesday that 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins, 23, of Bonner Springs, died Sunday from hostile fire. Goins was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Killed in the same attack was Spc. Mark Anthony Zapata, 27, of Edinburg, Texas. He was assigned to the same unit.

Goins’ father, Jim Goins, said his son was killed when a gunman climbed on top of his tank and fired into its open hatch.

Goins, who went to Iraq in January, moved in 1995 from Arkansas to Bonner Springs, where his father was a minister. He won academic honors and was selected as team captain in football and basketball, his father said from his home in Green Forest, Ark.

“That speaks as much to me about his personality as his athleticism,” Jim Goins said. “He was just admired and liked by everybody that knew him.”

Goins was valedictorian of Bonner Springs High School in 1999. He joined the ROTC at Kansas State University, graduating with honors in 2003.

“You could say he was born to be a soldier,” his father said.

In his youth in Arkansas, Goins participated in Civil War re-enactments, serving on a cannon crew with his father.

Survivors include his wife, Paula; his parents, Jim and Tammy Goins; and two sisters, Mandy and Sarah.

The Defense Department said a third Fort Hood soldier, Pfc. Brandon R. Sapp, 21, of Lake Worth, Fla., also died during the weekend when his M2 Bradley fighting vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division.

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Hundreds mourn soldier killed in Iraq

GREEN FOREST, Ark. — The sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Green Forest filled to capacity with 250 mourners for 2nd Lt. James Michael Goins’ funeral on Tuesday.

But more than three times as many people showed up for the service, to pay their respects to the young tank platoon leader killed Aug. 15 in Iraq. Church officials estimated that 800 people heard eulogies and hymns from the sanctuary, fellowship hall and tents set up outdoors.

Goins, 23, was a muscular and inspirational leader who felt invincible in his tank, said Capt. Kevin Badger, commander of the “Mad Dogs” company of the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment.

Goins and Spc. Mark Anthony Zapata of Edinburg, Texas, were killed while fighting insurgents in the flashpoint city of Najaf.

Goins’ tank was patrolling a graveyard, and while focused on gunfire in front of them, a member of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia quietly climbed up the back of the tank and shot Goins and Zapata at point-blank range through the open hatch.

Goins had been served in Iraq since Jan. 10. Three days before he died, he was injured when shrapnel hit him in his face and arms. He had called his wife from the hospital to tell her not to worry. He received a Purple Heart for the wounds.

Goins lived in Bonner Springs, Kan., but grew up in Carroll County, Ark. His parents, Jim and Tammy Goins, still live in the community of Oak Grove, just north of Green Forest.

Known as Michael to family and friends, he was the valedictorian of his high school in Kansas and the captain of the football and basketball teams. His father also called him a “tender-hearted poet” in an interview the Harrison Daily Times.

“From the beginning, Michael always had a special quality, an inner-strength and discipline,” Jim Goins said. “I don’t really think we had that much to do with shaping him, but having such a child made us feel we were great parents.”

— Associated Press