Joshua spent his time between his parents' homes in Wisconsin and Oregon, graduating from high school in 2003. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. He was his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Joshua was awarded the Bronze Star for valor during his first tour of duty. He also received a Purple Heart after being shot in the leg in August 2007. Joshua gave an interview with a local Wisconsin television station before he left on his last tour of duty. In it he expressed his concerns that people were forgetting about his fellow soldiers. He felt he was not a hero, but they that had gone before him, especially those that had died in combat, they were the heroes. He would not want those who he himself admired to be forgotten and himself overly fussed over. Joshua is survived by his mother and step-father; his father and step-mother; a brother; five sisters; grandparents; several aunts, uncles and other relatives.
Joshua spent his time between his parents' homes in Wisconsin and Oregon, graduating from high school in 2003. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy. He was his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. Joshua was awarded the Bronze Star for valor during his first tour of duty. He also received a Purple Heart after being shot in the leg in August 2007. Joshua gave an interview with a local Wisconsin television station before he left on his last tour of duty. In it he expressed his concerns that people were forgetting about his fellow soldiers. He felt he was not a hero, but they that had gone before him, especially those that had died in combat, they were the heroes. He would not want those who he himself admired to be forgotten and himself overly fussed over. Joshua is survived by his mother and step-father; his father and step-mother; a brother; five sisters; grandparents; several aunts, uncles and other relatives.
