Kimberly's Story

SSGT Kimberly Fahnestock-Voelz

United States Army Staff Sergeant Kimberly Ann Fahnestock-Voelz was Born on 24 August 1976 in Camp Hill Pennsylvania and was a Class of 1994 Graduate of Trinity High School of Camp Hill (Lower Allen Township).

After Graduation from High School, Sergeant Voelz Enlisted in the United States Army and Completed the Demanding Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) School at Indian Head Maryland in 1997.

After Being Fully Qualified as an EOD Technician, Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz was Assigned to the 703rd Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 184th Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 52nd Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Fort Knox Kentucky.

In 1999 She Married Fellow Soldier and EOD Technician US Army Sergeant Max Voelz.

Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Became an EOD Team Leader and Deployed in Several Highly Visible Missions.

They Included Support to the Pope John Paul II Visit to St Louis in 1999, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and Several Presidential Travel Missions with the United States Secret Service.

By 2003 Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz had Served Nine Years in the United States Army and Planned to Make a Military Career in the Service of Her Nation. She had Recently Re-Enlisted and Was Taking College Night Courses to Apply for Officer Candidate School.

In September 2003 Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Deployed as a Team Leader with a 17 Soldier EOD Unit to Iraq.

During this Deployment Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz’s Team Responded to Five to Seven EOD Calls a Day.

On 14 December 2003 in Iskandariyah Al Anbar Province Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Responded to a Report of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) That Was Hung Several Feet Off the Ground on a Power Line Transmission.

A Reconnaissance Was Conducted in Which Another IED was Spotted. Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Approached the Tower Holding a Charge and Detonating Cord/Time Fuse. Determining That It Would Not Be Safe to Detonate the IED in Place, Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Approached to Cut the IED Down.

At This Point a Detonation Occurred, Mortally Wounding Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz.

She Was Medevac’d to the Combat Army Surgical Hospital in Baghdad. Her Husband Sergeant Voelz Who Was Also Deployed in Iraq was Rushed to Her Side.

Sergeant Fahnestock-Voelz Never Regained Consciousness and Died in Her Husband’s Arms in Baghdad.

Kimberly Ann Fahnestock-Voelz was Twenty-Seven Years Old at the Time of Her Death.

She Was the First Pennsylvania Military Woman to Die of Combat Wounds in Iraq.