Soldier Served Overseas, Died at Home During Leave

Mourners gathered at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday to honor Spec. Toney L. Goble II, who served a tour in Afghanistan and died June 27, shortly after returning to his native Alabama on leave. The cause of death is undetermined.

Goble, 24, of Gadsden, Ala., was with the 12th Chemical Company, 5th Special Troops Battalion, V Corps, out of Grafenwoehr, Germany, according to the Army Human Resources Command.

The silver, flag-draped coffin was carried to Arlington's Section 60, where so many soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. The chaplain, Lt. Col. Harry A. Rauch III, read from the 23rd Psalm during the graveside service, speaking over the sound of planes departing from nearby Reagan National Airport. One of the planes cast a shadow over the service as it passed.

Rauch presented a folded flag to Goble's father, also named Toney. Goble alternately clutched the flag and wiped his eyes with a tissue, while another family member snapped photos of the service with a digital camera.

The younger Goble was found at the home of a friend in Guntersville, Ala., said Marlon Killion, coroner for Marshall County, Ala. Killion said he is awaiting the results of an autopsy conducted the day after Goble's death.

According to Stars and Stripes newspaper, police were told that Goble had Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that could result in weakening of the arteries. Goble was visiting the home of Leeinda Moore, who said they were having a normal evening at the house with Moore's mother and 5-year-old child before Goble retired to a spare bedroom. She said her mother checked on Goble the next morning and found him sprawled on the bed.

"He would listen to anybody, and if you ever needed anything he would give anybody the shirt off his back," Moore told Stars and Stripes.

Frances Butler, Goble's mother-in-law, said in a phone interview from Southside, Ala., that Goble was a "down-to-earth guy." She said that at one point he had wanted to be a paramedic, so she used to quiz him on his medical books.

"He was a very quiet guy, a very good guy," Butler said. "He kept to himself. But once you got him talking, he'd talk and he was very sweet."

Butler said her daughter, Erika, was worried when Goble decided to join the Army but knew it was his dream. Butler said Goble was so excited to be in the Army he "was like a kid at Christmas."

As Goble's Army travels took him to Missouri and then Germany, he and Erika "went their separate ways," Butler said. She said they had separated but remained friends. Butler said that after Goble died, her daughter cried on her shoulder and said, "I just want him home alive."

Goble was hard not to like, Butler said. "I just hope that they find out whatever happened," she said.

On his MySpace page, Goble referred to himself by Lamar, his middle name, and wrote about his tour in Afghanistan.

"I enjoyed it tremendously," he wrote. "There were some scary nights but I want to go back."

Goble wrote that he hated being away from his family, including his sisters, brother, nephews and nieces. Under the heroes section, he listed his father and "all of the other soldiers who have fought, are fighting and will fight." He wrote that his favorite films are the "Rocky" movies because the films are an inspiration.

He wrote that he had been stationed in Germany since January 2007.

He died a little more than two years after joining the Army, in June 2006, said Shari Lawrence, deputy public affairs officer for Army Human Resources Command. She said Goble was promoted in February.