Army Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip

Died October 14, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Irving, Texas; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Oct. 14 when his dismounted patrol came under enemy fire in Baghdad.

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Josiah Vandertulip had been home only three months after a yearlong tour in South Korea when he volunteered to fight in Iraq. "I got really upset with him. I didn't want him to go," said his mother, Louise. "I kept feeling he's just a kid. He doesn't know what he's doing." But the 21-year-old figured that if he volunteered for duty, he might be able to keep some husband and father from having to leave a family behind to go to war. Vandertulip, of Irving, Texas, died Oct. 14 when his patrol came under small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was based at Fort Hood. One of four brothers and a sister, Josiah Vandertulip was active in church and enjoyed playing ice hockey and downhill skiing. He entered the Army shortly after graduating from high school. Family members described him as a cutup who liked to do things differently, even coloring his brown hair blond, then green, before cutting it into a Mohawk and shaving it off. He is survived by his parents, Louise and Robert. After his death, a case of his favorite chicken noodle soup sat on the piano in the family's living room, part of a package that will never be sent.

— Associated Press