Army Spc. Joseph C. Nurre

Died August 21, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Wilton, Calif.; assigned to the 463rd Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Weirton, W. Va., killed Aug. 21 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M916 tractor during convoy operations near Samarra, Iraq.

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Calif. Army reservist killed in Samarra explosion

Associated Press

Joseph C. Nurre was once eating lunch with the other first-string football stars when he saw a freshman sitting alone at another cafeteria table, terrified at his first day of school.

Nurre brought the kid over to join him and the team.

“He was just an awesome kid,” said Mike Clemons, his football coach. “He was a soldier. A soldier on the football field. A soldier in the war. He’s my hero now.”

Nurre, 22, of Wilton, Calif., was killed Aug. 21 near Samarra by a roadside bomb. He graduated high school in 2001 and was based at Weirton. Despite his 5-foot-9-inch frame and 170 pounds, he became a

defensive lineman on the football team. He was so well liked he became team captain. “If you told him to be in the weight room at 6, he would be there at 5,” Clemons said.

“He took definite aim on what he was going to do.”

After high school, Nurre attended Cal State Sacramento for two years, majoring in construction management. Then, changing plans, he joined the Army Reserve. While awaiting assignment, he attended American River Junior College.

He is survived by his parents, Charlie and Leigh.