Army Spc. Joseph A. Bauer

Died July 24, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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27, of Cincinnati; assigned to 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died July 24 in Qalat, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his military vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Conrad A. Mora, Sgt. Daniel Lim and Pfc. Andrew L. Hand.

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Was 2nd fatality from local parish

By Laura Baverman and Theresa Herron

Cincinnati Enquirer

OWENSVILLE, Ohio – An Owensville native was killed July 24 while on a combat mission in Afghanistan.

Army Spc. Joseph Bauer, 27, was killed while on duty in Qalat as a mine sweeper, according to family members.

Bauer married Misty Howard, 25, formerly of Goshen, in March 2008. The couple had no children.

This marks the second casualty from the parish of St. Louis Church in Owensville in recent years since the war began in 2001.

Bauer enlisted in the Army in October 2007, family members said, and was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He left for Afghanistan in October 2009 and was scheduled to return home in October.

He recently enlisted for another six-year term, choosing to make the Army his career, said an uncle, Fred Bauer of Owensville.

Bauer was the son of Roger Bauer of Owensville and Lynn Bauer of Goshen Township. Other survivors include five brothers and two sisters; four half-sisters; a half-brother; a stepsister and a stepbrother.

One brother, Jason Bauer, 34, is serving with the Navy in Japan.

Bauer was home-schooled for much of his childhood but attended Clermont Northeastern High School for a brief period. He took classes at the University of Cincinnati but did not complete a degree.

Before his enlistment, he ran a press at U.S. Playing Card in Norwood.

Family members called Bauer reserved and quiet, focused and determined, but with a big heart.

“He’d go out on a limb for any of his family members,” said his brother Eric Bauer, 36, of Owensville. “And he’d make you laugh in a heartbeat.”

Another former member of St. Louis Church, Marine Lance Cpl. Nick Erdy, was killed in Iraq in 2005 at age 21. Erdy, son of William and Jane Erdy of Lynchburg, Ohio, was a 2002 graduate of McNicholas High School.

“It’s a good and honorable thing to be a soldier and serve your country,” said the Rev. Jerry Hiland, pastor at St. Louis.

“We’ve had a lot of people deployed from our parishes in Clermont County and we pray for them every day.”

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Solider was ‘drawn to … career that shared his values’

The Associated Press

Joe Bauer came from a big family — five brothers, two sisters, four half-sisters, and a half-brother, stepsister and stepbrother. His brother Eric said he was a loyal and caring brother.

“He’d go out on a limb for any of his family members ... and he’d make you laugh in a heartbeat,” said Eric Bauer.

Joe Bauer, a native of Owensville, Ohio, was home-schooled and later took classes at the University of Cincinnati.

He enlisted in the Army in 2007 after spending his early 20s working the presses at the U.S. Playing Card Co. Bauer, 27, was assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and was serving his first tour of duty in the Zabul province of Afghanistan when he an explosive hit his vehicle while he was on patrol July 24, killing him.

Bauer recently had decided to become a career soldier and had enlisted for another six years.

In early 2008, he married Misty Howard. She said her husband “was drawn to a life and career that shared his values.”

He found that in the Army.

Bauer also is survived by his parents, Roger and Lynn Bauer.