Marine Sgt Joshua Desforges, 23, died while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, which is the southwest corner of Afghanistan.
This is an update of a story that was first posted at 7:37 p.m.
Joshua D. DesforgesLUDLOW - Marine Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges of Ludlow was killed Wednesday in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced on Thursday.
A Defense Department release said Desforges, 23, died while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, which is the southwest corner of Afghanistan, roughly 100 miles west of the city of Qandahar. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
He was one of two Marines killed Wednesday in the same area of Afghanistan during combat operations, the Defense Department announced.
The other was identified as Sgt. Donald J. Lamar II, 23, of Fredericksburg, Va., who was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Desforges was a 2004 graduate of Ludlow Senior High School.
Prior to enlisting in the Marines, Desforges was a member of the Westover Young Marines program, based in East Longmeadow.
He is the third soldier with local ties killed in Afghanistan and the 22 overall killed in combat in either Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003.
He was also friends with Marine Lance Cpl. Philip A. Johnson, 19, of Enfield, Conn., who was killed Sept. 3, 2006 in a roadside attack west of Baghdad, Iraq.
Both served together in the Westover Young Marines program.
At Johnson’s funeral on Aug. 14, 2006, Desforges told a Republican reporter that his friend was enthusiastic about the Marines and excited to be going to combat. “I told him ‘be safe’,” he said.
Donald Couture, the Ludlow director of veterans services, said he has been in contact with Desforges’ parents, David and Arlene Desforges of West Street, and they indicated the family wishes to be left alone for the time being to deal with their grief.
No funeral arrangements have been set and it is not clear when his body will return to the area, Couture said.
Jacob Oliveira, a member of the Ludlow School Committee, was a classmate of Joshua Desforges at Ludlow High School. They both graduated in 2004.
“It hit me like a ton of bricks when I heard,” Oliveira said. “I grew up with Josh, went to Middle School and high school with him and I went to his deployment party on West Street.
“It’s surreal that he’s gone,” he said.
Oliveira said his father, Richard Oliveira, was Desforges’ math teacher at Ludlow High School , and he said his father said Desforges always brightened the room when he walked into class.
“He was a fun-loving kid,” Jacob Oliveira said of Desforges. He said he became very serious about joining the Marines and serving his country.
“He has become a hero to me and my classmates,” Oliveira said.
“This is a small community,” Oliveira added. He said Desforges’ mother is a para-professional at Veterans Park Elementary School in town.
Oliveira said the last time he saw Desforges was a few years ago at a Memorial Day parade. “This year we will be honoring him,” he said.
Suzanne McLaughlin contributed to this report
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