Tuesday, March 06 2007 @ 08:06 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 559
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 Norman Transcript -- A Norman Marine died Friday when he attempted to disarm a bomb, but saved his comrades in the process.
Staff Sgt. Dustin Michael Gould, 28, a bomb technician, was on patrol when he came across an explosive device.
Gould analyzed it and thought it was safe. He was moving it to a vehicle when a second explosive that was part of the same device exploded.
 "When he was placing it in the vehicle, it exploded," his father, David Gould, told the Longmont (Colo.) Daily Times-Call.
Dustin died a hero because he saved the lives of everyone in his platoon, family friend Kay Weyneth of Norman said.
Gould was on his fourth tour of duty in Iraq and was scheduled to return home in only 15 days, his father said.
The news was delivered in person to his mother, Karen Gould, of Norman, at her work Friday at Annie's Salon, 930 24th Ave. SW.
As soon as the two Marines showed up, she knew that something was wrong, salon owner Annie Rust said, because her son had told her they would send someone in person if he died.
Karen Gould flew out to Camp Pendleton, Calif., this past weekend, where she will wait with David Gould and her son's wife, Elizabeth, until his body arrives in about a week, said Weyneth, who has known the family for years.
Memorial services in Norman are pending, she said.
Gould was born in Norman Jan. 18, 1979, Weyneth said. He moved to Colorado with his father the next year after his parents divorced.
In high school, he began researching the military. His father said he chose to join the Marines because it is such an elite group.
"It was hard to let him go," David Gould said, but Dustin had made up his mind.
"He always had a good head on his shoulders."
Family friends in Norman said he was a strong, caring person.
"You have never met such an unselfish, outstanding young man," Weyneth said. "He never gave his mother trouble, he always excelled at whatever he did, he would give you the shirt off his back. No one could wish for a better son."
Gould received medals of commendation for recovering and safely disposing of "tons" of explosives, his father said.
"It was an astronomical amount," David Gould said. "I can't remember offhand."
His exemplary actions commanded the respect of all those around him, his father said.
"He was a true Marine," he said.
This is not the first time Gould's family has experienced the pain and loss of war: Gould's half-brother, who was in the Army, was killed by a sniper in Iraq only two weeks ago, Weyneth said.
Gould is survived by his mother, father, wife at Camp Pendleton, Calif., sister Bethany White of Van Buren, Ark., and grandparents Bobby and Inez Gould of Byng. |
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I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy. God knows how many American and Iraqi lives you saved by defusing and destroying the numerous IEDs and unexploded ordnance you must have encountered.
Semper Fi Devil Dog!