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Matagorda soldier dies in Iraq
Published February 11, 2009
MATAGORDA — As tears choked her voice, Brandi Ward said her big brother was a vibrant man with an outgoing personality who always saw the glass as half full.
Army Sgt. Joshua Ward’s family was notified Monday afternoon that the 30-year-old had died in Mosul, Iraq, during his third deployment there, Brandi Ward said. Details surrounding his death are not being released until other families are notified of their loved ones’ losses, she said.
Ward’s mother, Patti, said her son was someone who loved with all his heart, and his laugh was contagious. Her sorrow is one no other mother should ever have, she said.
“I’m shocked. Numb. Mad. A little of each,” Patti Ward said. “He was happy-go-lucky, funny, laughed all the time, made you laugh all the time and he loved his family.”
When Joshua Ward enlisted in 2001, his mother said watching him leave was the hardest thing she’s had to do until now.
“He said he had to fight for his country and he left, made it twice, but didn’t make it a third time,” Patti Ward said as she sobbed. “He made it twice, but didn’t make it a third time. He told me if he didn’t go, if all the boys stayed home like their mamas wanted, nobody would ever fight the war, and he had to go.”
Ward leaves behind his parents, four siblings, 9- and 7-year-old sons and another boy due in July, along with numerous other family members and friends.
“That one is with his girlfriend of 11 months,” Brandi Ward said. “They were planning on getting married when he came home.”
His other two sons live in Kentucky with their mother, she said.
“He was a wonderful father, a wonderful son, a wonderful nephew and so much more,” Patti Ward said. “My life won’t ever be the same again.”
Brandi Ward couldn’t think of a favorite time she had with her brother because all the memories are special to her, she said.
“You had to know Josh,” she said. “Every moment that I ever had with him was great because he was my big brother; he was so many things. He was always proud of me, no matter what. He never judged me for anything. He was just awesome. Josh will know what I’m talking about because he was just awesome. He was just a great person.”
Patti Ward said her son used to joke that he was invincible and couldn’t be hurt.
“But I guess this time he wasn’t,” she said.
Ward graduated from Needville High School and received a football scholarship to Texas A&M—Blinn College, but a car accident that shattered his elbow prevented him from going, Brandi Ward said.
“He enlisted in 2001 after 9/11 and this was his third and final tour,” she said. “He was supposed to be out of the military in September, and this was going to be the longest one — it was going to be a 16-month tour.”
Members of Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County will join many others today to post about 100 flags outside the Ward home in recognition of his sacrifice for his country.
“We don’t need to go and introduce ourselves to the family. All we want is to give the honor and respect to the American hero that has given the ultimate sacrifice,” Military Moms founder Mary Moreno said.
The Ward family said they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I want everybody to know that I’m proud of my brother, and he’ll be a hero forever in my heart,” Brandi Ward said.
Funeral arrangements still were pending Tuesday night.
Erin McKeon covers Matagorda County for The Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0152.
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