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Sgt. Joshua J. Frazier |
Send contributions to:
Peoples Community Bank
Attention: Sgt. Joshua Frazier Memorial Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 1567
King George, VA
22485
Phone: 540/775-2914
Fax: 540/775-4841
Joshua J. Frazier was scheduled to return from Iraq in April, but decided to re-up for a third tour.
The newly promoted sergeant didn't want to leave the young Marines he was now leading on their own. By staying, he told friends and family, he believed he could keep his men safe.
The Spotsylvania County Marine was killed by a sniper in Iraq late Monday, his family said yesterday. He was 24.
Frazier had been serving in the Ar Ramadi area of Iraq as part of the Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
His mother, Shelia Cutshall, last spoke with him Sunday night, when he called home with news of his promotion.
"He was upbeat," she said. "I told him I missed him, and he said he missed me, too."
Frazier, who left for his second deployment to Iraq last September, also told her about his plan to extend his stay, and the reasons for that.
To those who knew him best, it was typical Josh.
It was the same guy who would stay with a friend all night after a buddy lost a relative.
It was the same young man who would visit a casual acquaintance in the hospital for hours.
It was the same person who would spend what little free time he had on leave taking family and friends' kids to Lake Anna and birthday parties.
And, above all, they said, it was the same son and brother who would drop anything for his family.
Yesterday afternoon, his mom's house was filled with tangible reminders of the Spotsylvania High graduate.
At one end of the living room, a family friend held onto "Teddy," the stuffed bear Cutshall received as a gift when she was six months pregnant with her second son.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Frazier still slept with the bear when he was home.
On one couch was a blanket with a dragon on it that he had sent his mom for her 50th birthday. A dragon is a sign of strength in Korea, where he once deployed, he told her.
On another sofa rested a small quilt with the Marine insignia and the large words, "Welcome Home Josh." It was prepared for his last return home from Iraq.
The blanket was signed by many of the same friends and family who were gathered at the home yesterday.
Memories flowed.
Frazier collected guns and loved all things Spider-Man. He had a huge handshake, but a warm, sheepish smile.
He was a partier, they recalled with a laugh, but that never kept him from church come Sunday morning.
Michelle Luehrs had known him since grade school.
"He was so full of life and energy and so passionate about so many things. And he cared so much about people," she said. Frazier was the godfather to her 7-year-old son, Xavier.
She remembered what he said when she tried to talk him out of extending his term with the Marines.
"He said, 'Michelle, there's a lot of really bad people over here and I can't go home while they're still here.' He didn't want Xavier to have to go over when he was 18. He felt like it was on his shoulders."
Aaron Mallin, 29, Frazier's older brother, said Josh was proud of the difference he was making in Iraq. He once told Mallin, for instance, that his unit was serving in what has been described as the most dangerous intersection in the world.
Since Frazier and his fellow Marines moved in, he told Mallin, people could once again cross the street without being killed.
"And he was very proud of that," Mallin said.
Dad Rick Frazier said his son's strong will was what made him unique.
"That helped him get through life. He worked very hard at being an individual. But I think the most important thing I can say about my son was that he loved his family and we'll sorely miss that part of him," he said.
"He believed in the United States and believed what he was doing was right. He gave his life for what he thought was the right thing to do."
Brian Baer:
At least 17 men and one woman with ties to the Fredericksburg area have died in Iraq since the conflict began:
Army National Guard Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford County died Jan. 20, 2007, when his helicopter was shot down near Baghdad.
Army Cpl. Adam Fargo, 22, a medic with relatives in Fredericksburg, was killed July 22, 2006, by a roadside bomb Baghdad.
Marine Cpl. Brett Lee Lundstrom, a 2001 Brooke Point High School graduate, was killed Jan. 7, 2006, by small-arms fire near Fallujah.
Army National Guard Spc. Jeremy Hodge, 20, whose mother lives in Fredericksburg, was killed Oct. 10, 2005, when the convoy he was leading was hit by a bomb near Baghdad.
Marine Cpl. Christopher Weaver, 24, of Spotsylvania was one of four Marine reservists killed in a Jan. 26, 2005, convoy ambush near Haditha.
Army Sgt. Nicholas “Nick” Mason, 20, a National Guardsman from King George, was one of 22 people killed in a Dec. 21, 2004, mess-tent suicide bombing near Mosul.
Army Sgt. David Ruhren, 20, a National Guardsman from Stafford County, also was killed in the mess-tent suicide bombing.
Army Sgt. Jack Bryant Jr. of Dale City was in Muqdadiyah Nov. 20, 2004, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military convoy.
Civilian medic Jeffery Serrett, a 43-year-old Caroline native who lived in Spotsylvania, was shot by an unidentified assailant Nov. 2, 2004, at Abu Ghraib prison between Baghdad and Fallujah. He was working for Halliburton.
Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb Powers, 21, a former Fredericksburg-area resident, was killed by a sniper Aug. 17, 2004, in Ramadi.
Army 2nd Lt. Leonard Cowherd III, 22, of Culpeper was killed by a sniper May 16, 2004, while on a mission near Karbala.
Army Spc. Frank K. Rivers Jr., 23, of Woodbridge suffered heart failure during physical training April 14, 2004, in Mosul.
Army 2nd Lt. Jeff Graham, 24, a 1998 graduate of Brooke Point High School, was killed Feb. 19, 2004, about 50 miles west of Baghdad after a bomb exploded while he led his platoon on foot patrol.
Staff Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins, 27, an Army scout, was killed Feb. 9, 2004, near Mosul when confiscated Iraqi ammunition exploded while he and others were moving it. Robbins grew up in New York, but has relatives in the Fredericksburg area.
Army Regimental Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore, 45, of North Stafford was killed Nov. 7, 2003, in a helicopter shot down over Tikrit. He worked for the Judge Advocate General Corps at the Pentagon and was on a brief mission in Iraq.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, of Alexandria, who spent weekends at a summer home at Lake Anna in Orange County, also worked for JAG and died with Gilmore.
Army Staff Sgt. David Parson, 30, was shot seven times July 6, 2003, as his vehicle approached Baghdad. The father of three had married into the Belman family of Stafford County.
