A 24-year-old Fort Stewart soldier was killed in Iraq Wednesday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Pfc. Joshua R. Anderson died in Kamasia on Jan. 2 after suffering fatal wounds from the blast, the Department of Defense said late Friday.
The Jordan, Minn. native was a combat medic with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team
His father, Keven Anderson, told the media his son joined the Army in 2006 to serve his country and to provide for his wife and 3-year-old daughter.
Anderson spoke with his wife, Hannah, online Wednesday, ending the conversation by each of them typing, “I love you. Always and forever. Forever and always.”
“Everything we talked about were what our plans were when he came back. He said he didn’t want to re-enlist. He couldn’t deal with being deployed away from me for so long, but this deployment would bring us together and make us stronger,” she told the Associated Press. “He talked about having more kids. He said he loved me, and I said I loved him, and those were our last words.”
Anderson was in the second month of his tour in Iraq and according to his mother, Lynn Anderson, he spent a great deal of his time trying to bond with the children in Kamasia by handing out cookies, candy and funny Band-Aids.
”He was always loving and caring and he had a quick smile and helping hand,” his mother told reporters, describing her son’s character. “He’d give you the shirt off his back.”
Pfc. Joshua R. Anderson died in Kamasia on Jan. 2 after suffering fatal wounds from the blast, the Department of Defense said late Friday.
The Jordan, Minn. native was a combat medic with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team
His father, Keven Anderson, told the media his son joined the Army in 2006 to serve his country and to provide for his wife and 3-year-old daughter.
Anderson spoke with his wife, Hannah, online Wednesday, ending the conversation by each of them typing, “I love you. Always and forever. Forever and always.”
“Everything we talked about were what our plans were when he came back. He said he didn’t want to re-enlist. He couldn’t deal with being deployed away from me for so long, but this deployment would bring us together and make us stronger,” she told the Associated Press. “He talked about having more kids. He said he loved me, and I said I loved him, and those were our last words.”
Anderson was in the second month of his tour in Iraq and according to his mother, Lynn Anderson, he spent a great deal of his time trying to bond with the children in Kamasia by handing out cookies, candy and funny Band-Aids.
”He was always loving and caring and he had a quick smile and helping hand,” his mother told reporters, describing her son’s character. “He’d give you the shirt off his back.”