Joseph B. Milledge
|
| Age: |
|
23 |
| Hometown: |
Glenwood, Iowa |
| Date of Death: |
10/5/07 |
| Incident Location: |
Baghdad |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Army |
| Rank: |
Sgt. |
| Unit: |
3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment |
| Unit's Base: |
Vilseck, Germany |
|
Milledge graduated from Glenwood High School in 2002 and joined the Army in 2004. while he was living in Texas. He married soon after that. His wife, Amanda, is from Washington state. The couple have a 14-month-old son, Joseph Bradley Ryan Milledge Jr. Milledge did his first tour of combat duty in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and then was stationed in Germany.
This August, his unit was deployed to Kuwait and moved to Baghdad less than two weeks later, said his mother, Carla Milledge of Glenwood. "He was a sergeant and a team leader," she said. "He was a good soldier for the Army. He eventually wanted to get into the Special Forces." In July, Milledge returned to Glenwood during a two-week leave. He visited Omaha's Old Market. He attended the Luis Palau Heartland Festival. He and his wife had their son baptized at a church in Council Bluffs, his mother said. His sister Mary Cooper of Glenwood said Milledge tried to return to Iowa every six months to visit family and maintain his local ties. "No matter where he was, it was always of the uttermost importance for him to see his family," Cooper said. "Even though he had nine nieces and nephews, he would spend quality time with every one of them while he was here."
Milledge was also an avid reader, especially about religion and philosophy. He especially enjoyed learning and reading about Socrates, Cooper said. "My brother would always say, 'Don't let schooling get in the way of education,'" Cooper said. "He never stopped reading, and he was always a very good person. He doesn't want to be portrayed just as a soldier because he was much more than that."