Shane Marion Koele was born on February 9, 1980, in Hartley, O'Brien County, Iowa. He was the son of Keith Koele and Mary Donnenwerth. He was married to Cheryl Koele. He attended Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School and continued his education at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, and Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska. He enlisted in the United States Army in January 2000, completing basic training and Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He later graduated with distinction from the Primary Leadership Course, Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, and Airborne School. In March 2003, he deployed to Iraq before returning to his duty station with the 212th Military Police Company in Kitzingen, Germany. On March 8, 2005, Koele deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

SSgt Koele was fatally wounded on March 15, 2005, when a land mine exploded near his Humvee while conducting a border patrol near Shindand Airfield, Afghanistan. He died of his injuries the following day, March 16, only about a week after arriving in Afghanistan for his deployment. He is now buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Hartley, O'Brien County, Iowa, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, thefallen.militarytimes.com