Marine 1st Lt. Booth was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Booth died from a sniper's bullet while leading his squad on a foot patrol in Haditha. Josh wanted to be in the military since he was little. He was in the Sea Cadets while going to St. John's High School in Shrewsbury and fell in love with the Marines because they were the hardest of all the U.S. armed services. He graduated from St. John's in 2001 where he was on the soccer, football, wrestling and track teams. He turned down an Army college scholarship to go to The Citadel, where he earned his commission as a Marine officer. In 2005, he graduated from The Citadel Military College of South Caroline where he earned a degree in Criminal Justice and was a high-scoring member of the pistol team. Josh had only been in Iraq for one month, but had a feeling he would not be returning home – he told his family to be ready for his death. His mission in Iraq was to build trust between the Marines and the Iraqi people. Because of his great success in finding weapons caches, he became a target for snipers. His family talked to him 10 days before he died. He said his tour was "very dangerous" and joked about whether NetFlix would send DVDs to Iraq. He leaves behind his wife, Erica, a daughter, and an unborn son. Josh's parents wanted him to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, but Josh didn't think he was worthy of that. Instead, he wanted to be buried in the family plot at Longwood Cemetery in Virginia.
Marine 1st Lt. Booth was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Booth died from a sniper's bullet while leading his squad on a foot patrol in Haditha. Josh wanted to be in the military since he was little. He was in the Sea Cadets while going to St. John's High School in Shrewsbury and fell in love with the Marines because they were the hardest of all the U.S. armed services. He graduated from St. John's in 2001 where he was on the soccer, football, wrestling and track teams. He turned down an Army college scholarship to go to The Citadel, where he earned his commission as a Marine officer. In 2005, he graduated from The Citadel Military College of South Caroline where he earned a degree in Criminal Justice and was a high-scoring member of the pistol team. Josh had only been in Iraq for one month, but had a feeling he would not be returning home – he told his family to be ready for his death. His mission in Iraq was to build trust between the Marines and the Iraqi people. Because of his great success in finding weapons caches, he became a target for snipers. His family talked to him 10 days before he died. He said his tour was "very dangerous" and joked about whether NetFlix would send DVDs to Iraq. He leaves behind his wife, Erica, a daughter, and an unborn son. Josh's parents wanted him to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, but Josh didn't think he was worthy of that. Instead, he wanted to be buried in the family plot at Longwood Cemetery in Virginia.
