First Lt. Joshua Booth
May 20, 1983 — October 17, 2006
First Lieutenant Joshua Loren Booth, 23, United States Marine Corps, of Kaneohe Bay, HI, died Tuesday, October 17, 2006, of combat injuries received while on active duty in Haditha, Iraq. He was a devoted husband and father, a loving son, brother, and uncle, and a proud Officer who loved his country and was devoted to his Marines. He leaves his wife, Erica Rust Booth, a daughter Grace Mackenna Booth, both of Kaneohe Bay, HI and an unborn son, Tristan Joshua Booth.
Second Lt. Booth was born May 20, 1983, in Virginia Beach, VA, son of John Edwin "Jack" Booth and Debra Lynne Guell Booth of Sturbridge, MA. He was a 2001 graduate of St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, MA where he was on the soccer, football, wrestling and track teams. In 2005, he graduated from The Citadel Military College of South Carolina in Charleston, SC where he earned a degree in Criminal Justice and was a high-scoring member of the pistol team. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Marine Corps in May of 2005. He then attended TBS, followed by Infantry Officer School in Quantico, VA and was subsequently stationed at the Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was Third platoon leader in Echo Company, Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment, that was deployed to the Al AnBar Province in September of 2006.
In addition to his wife, children and parents, Second Lt. Booth is survived by his sister, Melissa Long DeVera and her husband, Michael of Fredericksburg, VA; grandparents, Loren James Hanson Guell of Independence, OH and the late Betty Rogers Guell, James Edwin "Ed" Booth of Virginia Beach and Bedford, VA and the late Peggy Gentry Booth, and uncles and aunts, William Fitzpatrick "Rick" Booth, Col. USMC (Retired) and his wife, Karen of Fredericksburg, VA, Blackburn Jordan Booth and his wife, Linda of Virginia Beach, Robert Blackburn Booth of Greensboro, NC, David Hanson Guell of St. Cloud, FL and Amelia Grace Guell of Independence, OH; nieces and nephews, Nicholas Kyle, Noelle Debra, and Isabella Lauren DeVera all of Fredericksburg, VA and cousins, Second Lt. William Fitzpatrick Booth, Jr., USAF and Thomas Paul Booth of Fredericksburg, VA and Edwin Stuart Booth of Norfolk, VA.
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