Army Spc. Joshua M. Boyd

Died March 14, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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30, of Seattle; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 14 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device exploded near his unit March 5 in Samarra, Iraq.

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Seventh 82nd paratrooper dies from Iraq blast

The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — A seventh 82nd Airborne paratrooper wounded in a March 5 blast in Iraq has died, a military spokeswoman said March 17.

Spc. Joshua M. Boyd, 30, died March 14 at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was wounded March 5 when an improvised explosive device exploded near his unit in Samarra, Iraq.

The deaths were the largest loss of life in the past three years for the Fort Bragg-based airborne division.

Boyd was from Abilene, Texas, and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, according to a news release from the 82nd.

Army Spc. Jacqueline Pryor, a spokeswoman for the 82nd, said March 17 that Boyd has been posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Boyd is survived by his parents, Tonya and Robin Boyd, both of Abilene, Texas.

Boyd joined the Army in September 1997 as an infantryman and was honorably discharged after completing his first full term of service. In April 2002, he voluntarily rejoined the Army, officials at Fort Bragg said.

“He rejoined the Army after 9/11 because he wanted to go and help those who could not help themselves,” Boyd’s family said in a short statement. “That was his motto, to help those who could not help themselves.”

His family said Boyd was born and raised in Abilene.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete, but Pryor said a memorial service would probably be held for him by his unit in Iraq.

Also killed in the March 5 explosion were: Pfc. Cory C. Kosters, 19, of The Woodlands, Texas; Staff Sgt. Robert M. Stanley, 27, of Spotsylvania; Spc. Ryan M. Bell, 21, of Colville, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Justin M. Estes, 26, of Sims, Ark.; Sgt. Andrew C. Perkins, 27, of Northglenn, Colo.; and Spc. Justin A. Rollins, 22, of Newport, N.H.

Their company commander, Capt. Eugene Farris, has called each of the soldiers a hero and said it was an honor to serve with them.