NcDeuce
11-04-2003, 02:45 PM
Two 101st soldiers killed by Mosul roadside blast
By CHANTAL ESCOTO
The Leaf-Chronicle
Pentagon officials on Monday released the name of one of two 101st Airborne Division soldiers killed Saturday in Mosul when their humvee hit a roadside bomb about 7:30 a.m. local time.
First Lt. Joshua C. Hurley, 24, of Clifton Forge, Va., assigned to the 326th Engineer Battalion at Fort Campbell, died from his injuries. Two others in the vehicle also were wounded in the blast, but the Department of Defense does not release names of injured service members.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/stories/20031104/localnews/576736-210243.jpg
First Lt. Joshua Hurley, right, 326th Engineering Battalion, was killed Saturday in Mosul, Iraq. His wife, Teresa, is at left.
The name of the second soldier who died will be released when family notification is complete.
In the small Virginia town where Hurley grew up, about 60 miles from Roanoke, he is remembered as a dedicated man who loved his family and his country. His wife, Teresa, also is a soldier assigned to the 101st in Iraq and is en route to the United States.
"He really believed in what he was doing," said his younger sister and only sibling, Amanda Hurley, during a telephone interview from the family home Monday. "The last letter I got from him, he was ready to come home and go hunting and fishing. He loved being an engineer officer."
Clifton Forge neighbor Frances Nicely remembered Hurley as a nice, polite boy who liked to go fishing and play basketball in his yard.
"He was a wonderful child and a good-looking boy," Nicely said. "It's such a shame. It hurts to think about it. The whole family is very nice."
Lt. Hurley had no children, but he left behind a 6-week-old niece that he never saw, and he will miss his sister's wedding. Hurley's parents currently live in Texas.
"We were pretty close. We're a real close family," Amanda Hurley said. "We're just pulling together and trying to get through it."
Amanda Hurley's fiance, Josh Elmore, said Lt. Hurley made him feel like family and appreciated how he treated everyone as an equal.
"He was a great guy," Elmore said.
"It's a shame that he's gone. It's hard on everybody right now. "
Lt. Hurley attended Alleghany High School in Clifton Forge and entered the U.S. Army in 2001 as a second lieutenant after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, near Lexington, Va.
"That's really the only school he wanted to go to was VMI," Amanda Hurley said.
Lt. Hurley's unit will hold a memorial service for him in Mosul as is done for all Fort Campbell and 101st troops who have sacrificed their lives in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The deaths are under investigation.
:( Rest in peace, these fine soldiers had a Rendezvous with Destiny.
By CHANTAL ESCOTO
The Leaf-Chronicle
Pentagon officials on Monday released the name of one of two 101st Airborne Division soldiers killed Saturday in Mosul when their humvee hit a roadside bomb about 7:30 a.m. local time.
First Lt. Joshua C. Hurley, 24, of Clifton Forge, Va., assigned to the 326th Engineer Battalion at Fort Campbell, died from his injuries. Two others in the vehicle also were wounded in the blast, but the Department of Defense does not release names of injured service members.
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/news/stories/20031104/localnews/576736-210243.jpg
First Lt. Joshua Hurley, right, 326th Engineering Battalion, was killed Saturday in Mosul, Iraq. His wife, Teresa, is at left.
The name of the second soldier who died will be released when family notification is complete.
In the small Virginia town where Hurley grew up, about 60 miles from Roanoke, he is remembered as a dedicated man who loved his family and his country. His wife, Teresa, also is a soldier assigned to the 101st in Iraq and is en route to the United States.
"He really believed in what he was doing," said his younger sister and only sibling, Amanda Hurley, during a telephone interview from the family home Monday. "The last letter I got from him, he was ready to come home and go hunting and fishing. He loved being an engineer officer."
Clifton Forge neighbor Frances Nicely remembered Hurley as a nice, polite boy who liked to go fishing and play basketball in his yard.
"He was a wonderful child and a good-looking boy," Nicely said. "It's such a shame. It hurts to think about it. The whole family is very nice."
Lt. Hurley had no children, but he left behind a 6-week-old niece that he never saw, and he will miss his sister's wedding. Hurley's parents currently live in Texas.
"We were pretty close. We're a real close family," Amanda Hurley said. "We're just pulling together and trying to get through it."
Amanda Hurley's fiance, Josh Elmore, said Lt. Hurley made him feel like family and appreciated how he treated everyone as an equal.
"He was a great guy," Elmore said.
"It's a shame that he's gone. It's hard on everybody right now. "
Lt. Hurley attended Alleghany High School in Clifton Forge and entered the U.S. Army in 2001 as a second lieutenant after graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, near Lexington, Va.
"That's really the only school he wanted to go to was VMI," Amanda Hurley said.
Lt. Hurley's unit will hold a memorial service for him in Mosul as is done for all Fort Campbell and 101st troops who have sacrificed their lives in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The deaths are under investigation.
:( Rest in peace, these fine soldiers had a Rendezvous with Destiny.