Army Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, 24, of Yoncalla, Ore.

Sgt. Lengstorf was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Jan. 3, 2010 in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire. Also killed were Spc. Brian R. Bowman and Pvt. John P. Dion.

A 24-year-old man who attended school in Elkton was killed in combat in Afghanistan, family friends said.

Mike Hughes, superintendent of the Elkton School District, said Lengstorf attended school from eighth grade through his 2004 graduation from Elkton High School.

Lengstorf, who turned 24 a month before he died, joined the Army in August, 2006 and deployed to Iraq the following year for 11 months. He joined the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Collins in 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan last May.

The day after Lengstorf shipped out to Afghanistan, his mother, Ronda Crewse, posted a message on Twitter: "loves her children more than anything! Will be worried sick for at least a year! I love you, Joshua! Please be safe!"

Chuck Collins has been with Lengstorf's mother, Ronda Crewse, for 12 years and thinks of Lengstorf like a son. A military representative informed the family of Lengstorf's death Sunday afternoon.

“It was four months until he came home,” Collins said of Lengstorf, who deployed about 11 months ago. “What's kind of most upsetting is he was really establishing his new family.”

Lengstorf married his wife, Jesse, about a year ago, Collins said. The couple had a baby girl, Kadence, who is about 14 months old. His wife, daughter, and dog Jayce, moved to Roseburg about a month ago to be near family.

When Collins first met Crewse, she was living in Drain. The family then moved to Elkton, where Lengstorf attended school from eighth grade until graduating from Elkton High School in 2004. About a year later, they all moved to Yoncalla.

Lengstorf also has two brothers, Brian Lengstorf and Corey Lengstorf, who live in Yoncalla.

“I think (Josh Lengstorf) was doing what he loved and all we can do is respect the man for it,” Collins said of Lengstorf's death.

“It sucks. We're all going to have to find a way to get by with it and deal with it.”

Army Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf was killed in action on 01/03/10.