Army Spc. Joseph A. Bauer

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Joseph A. Bauer, 27, of Cincinnati

Spc. Bauer was assigned to 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died July 24, 2010 in Qalat, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his military vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Conrad A. Mora, Sgt. Daniel Lim and Pfc. Andrew L. Hand.

An Owensville native was killed late Saturday while on a combat mission in Afghanistan. Army Spc. Joseph Bauer, 27, was killed while on duty as a mine sweeper, according to family members who learned of his death Saturday morning. It is not known where in Afghanistan he was killed.

Bauer married Misty, 25, formerly of Goshen, in March 2008. The couple had no children.

This marks the second casualty from the parish of St. Louis Church in Owensville in recent years since the war began in 2001.

Bauer enlisted in the Army in October 2007, family members said, and was stationed at a base in Washington state. He left for Afghanistan in October 2009 and was scheduled to return home in October.

He recently enlisted for another six-year term, choosing to make the Army his career, said an uncle, Fred Bauer of Owensville.

Joseph Bauer was the son of Roger Bauer of Owensville and Lynn Bauer of Goshen Township. Other survivors include five brothers and two sisters; four half-sisters; a half-brother; a stepsister and a stepbrother.

One brother, Jason Bauer, 34, is serving with the Navy in Japan.

Bauer was home-schooled for much of his childhood but attended Clermont Northeastern High School for a brief period. He took classes at the University of Cincinnati but did not complete a degree.

Before his enlistment, he ran a press at U.S. Playing Card in Norwood.

Family members called Bauer reserved and quiet, focused and determined, but with a big heart.

He'd go out on a limb for any of his family members, said his brother Eric Bauer, 36, of Owensville. And he'd make you laugh in a heartbeat.

The Army flew Bauer's parents and wife to Dover Air Force base in Delaware this week to retrieve his body.

Another former member of St. Louis Church, Marine Lance Cpl. Nick Erdy, was killed in Iraq in 2005 at age 21. Erdy, son of William and Jane Erdy of Lynchburg, Ohio, was a 2002 graduate of McNicholas High School.

It's a good and honorable thing to be a soldier and serve your country, said the Rev. Jerry Hiland, pastor at St. Louis. We've had a lot of people deployed from our parishes in Clermont County and we pray for them every day.

Army Spc. Joseph A. Bauer was killed in action on 7/24/10.