Longmont man killed in Iraq

Marine loved hunting, fishing, the outdoors

By Ryan Morgan
Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Marine Sgt. Dustin M. Gould, of Longmont, died Friday in Anbar province just two weeks before he was due to be sent home, the military said Monday.

Gould, 28, was a graduate of Berthoud High School who grew up in Fort Collins and Longmont. He joined the Marines right after graduation in 1997 and was stationed in Camp Pendleton, Calif. He met his wife, Elizabeth Gould, in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and they moved to Oceanside, Calif.

Elizabeth Gould said her husband was counting the days until he could see her again. He had been in Iraq since late August and was scheduled to return March 15.

"He was really excited to come home," she said from her home in Oceanside. "He'd say, 'One day more baby, one day more, we're almost together.' We had a lot of plans for when he got home."

Gould loved surfing, skiing, hiking, golfing, hunting and fishing, his wife said.

"He always liked to have fun, every day," she said. "He was really active. He couldn't just sit inside the house."

Gould also loved playing the guitar, she said, and just last month he won a guitar and a free lesson from guitar legend Stephen Paul, also known as Esteban.

"He played, and he wanted to learn more," she said. "He was really, really good."

David Gould, Dustin's father, said his son was looking for a challenge when he joined the Marines.

"He really didn't know what he wanted to do in life," the father said. "He researched all the different armed forces, and he had decided to be in the Marine Corps because it was the elite."

Gould said his son had mixed feelings about serving in Iraq, but he didn't have any doubt about being in the military.

"He loved being a Marine," Gould said. "He didn't necessarily like (being in Iraq), but he knew it was something that we had to be doing. He knew that either we were going to be there, or they were going to be over here, and he felt like we needed to be there."

Dustin Gould was a member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal platoon, and he was doing his work when he was killed.

David Gould said explosives experts are the cream of the crop even within the Marines, valued for keeping their fellow troops safe.

"He was definitely a hero," he said.

In addition to his wife and father, Gould is survived by his mother, Karen Gould, of Norman, Okla., and a sister, Bethany White, 31, of Van Buren, Ark.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.