Sgt. Joshua Desforges was recalled yesterday as a natural leader, a great friend and a born Marine as friends and family from Ludlow grappled with his death during combat in Afghanistan
This is an update of a story first posted at 2:07 p.m.
The late Joshua D. Deforges is seen in his uniform.LUDLOW –When Frank Evangelista, owner of Frank’s Diner on East Street, thinks of the late Marine Sgt. Joshua D. Desforges he remembers a smiling young man in a Santa Claus hat.
A few years ago around Christmas time, Desforges, a Ludlow native, and a buddy came into the diner to seek donations for the U.S. Marines’ Toy for Tots program.
Desforges had a smile on his face and a Santa hat on his head, he recalled.
He was a happy-go-lucky kid ... a nice kid, a good kid,” Evangelista said.
Throughout Ludlow, Western Massachusetts and the larger fraternity of Marines, there was a shared sadness as news spread of Desforges’ death Wednesday in a remote section of Afghanistan.
Desforges, 23, a 6-year veteran of the Marine Corps, died “as a result of a hostile incident while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan,” according a statement issued by the 2nd Division Office of Public Affairs.
He was a squad leader assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward. He was midway through his second tour in Afghanistan, having been deployed there in December, the statement read. His previous tour was March through September, 2008.
A statement issued by his parents, David and Arlene Desforges of West Street on Friday afternoon through the office of Sen. John F. Kerry, said “We mourn the death of Sgt. Joshua Desforges, - a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew, and American hero - but most of all, our best friend.”
The statement goes on to ask people respect the family’s wish for privacy in the coming days as it grieves his loss.
The statement also notes that Desforges died living his life’s dream, which was to be a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
“It was his calling in life and like everything else, he took to it at full throttle. Josh loved being a Marine,” the statement said.
“In the Marines, in Afghanistan, he was Sgt. Desforges. At home he was Josh, our boy,” the statement said. “To call him a hero just doesn’t seem enough.”
Sgt. Major Edward C. Mitrook of the Westover Young Marine program, who met Desforges when he joined the program at age 12, said that since the news of his death began spreading, he has drained the battery on his cell phone fielding calls from his friends all over the country.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from his friends in the program and in the Marine Corps,” said Mitrook of East Longmeadow. “He was a good kid.”
Photo by George Graham / The Republican | A sign outside Ludlow High School pays tribute to Marine Sgt. Joshua Desforges In Ludlow, flags flew at half mast. The message board outside Ludlow High School honored Desforges, a 2004 graduate. “Semper Fi - Sgt. Desforges - Our Hero.”
Semper Fi is short for the Marine Corps motto: “Semper Fidelis,” which is Latin for “always faithful.”
Mitrook said Desforges was that and more; he was born to be a Marine.
“Josh was one of those kids. When he was 5-6 years old, that was his big thing - he wanted to go into the Marines.”
And as soon as he graduated from high school in 2004, Mitrook said, he did.
He joined the Marine Corps in September 2004, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant on January 1, 2008.
In his time in the Marines, Desforges earned several commendations, including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and NATO International Security Assistance Force Medal.
A statement issued by U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, praised Desforges as the finest example of the men and women who make up the country’s all-volunteer military.
“Sgt. Desforges was a courageous and charismatic native of Ludlow who joined the United States Marine Corps to defend our cherished freedom in the first line of defense,” Neal said.
“Our country can never repay the debt we owe him and his family for their extraordinary sacrifice,” he said.
In Ludlow, Desforges’ death, the first combat-related death of any town resident since Vietnam, was a jarring reminder that a war on the other side of the world can also be right next door.
Evangelista said it was all that anyone talked about Friday in his diner.
“Kids are dying over there,” Evangelista “People are sad that it happened and it’s continuing.”
Donald J. Couture, director of Veterans Services, said he has yet to talk with the family, but is available to help in any way.
“The town of Ludlow is offering all it’s support,” he said.
Desforges is the first town resident killed in action since Lance Cpl. Douglas Walker, a helicopter pilot, who was shot down in Vietnam in 1968, Couture said.
“And hopefully he will be the last,” he said.
Antonio Salvador, interviewed in town hall, expressed sadness even though he said he did not know Desforges.
“As a former marine, every time I hear of one of our guys dying over there it bothers me,” he said. “It kind of sticks you a little bit harder in the heart.”
Roger Savoie, sitting next to Salvador, said he served in the Marines in Korea. Hearing about Desforges death was profoundly sad, he said.
“I made it back,” Savoie said. “Here’s a young kid, just starting life and he didn’t make it.”
He said he feels terrible for his family.
“When somebody from town dies, it hits you in the heart because he’s your neighbor, he’s here,” he said
Joshua Desforges is seen in an undated family photograph.James Torrey, 23, of Hardwick, a classmate of Desforges Ludlow High School with Desforges and served as an assistant recruiter in the Marines with him for a time in downtown Springfield.
Torrey recalls Desforges “lived and breathed” the military.
“We loved it,” Torrey said. “We were so enthusiastic we would both show up to work in our Dress Blues. We liked the challenge. You get close to people when you both endure the same things.”
Torrey said that both he and Desforges attended the same infantry training at Camp Geiger in North Carolina.
The two lost touch after Torrey deployed to Iraq, he said.
Torrey said he has since been discharged from the Marines.
“It’s too bad,” he said. “I want to know more about how he died.”
He said he has become close to Desforges’ family over the years. When Desforges completed basic training, Mitrook was a guest of his parents for the graduation ceremony at Parris Island, S.C.
Now, on behalf of the family, he will travel next week to Dover Air Force Base to escort their son’s body home.
He called it a great privilege, albeit a sad one.
“This is a sad moment for that family. Josh and his father were very, very close.”
Mitrook said it has not fully hit him yet that Desforges is gone, but he expects it will in the coming days.
In the last 10 years, he has had to deal with three deaths for program graduates and one injury, he said. One of the deaths, Lance Cpl. Philip A. Johnson of Enfield who was killed in Iraq in 2006, was Desforges’ close friend.
“It’s not right. Your not supposed to outlive your kids," he said. “It is a shame.”
Republican reporters George Graham and Suzanne McLaughlin contributed to this report.