Army Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton, 28, of Battle Creek Mich.

SSgt Throckmorton was assigned to the 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Hohenfels, Germany; died July 5, 2011 in Paktia province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Army Spc. Jordan C. Schumann and Army Spc. Preston J. Suter.

SSgt Throckmorton deployed to Afghanistan in April. This was his second deployment. He had previously been deployed to Iraq.

SSgt Throckmorton graduated from Battle Creek Central High School in 2001, where he was an honors student and team leader on the football team. He joined the Army shortly afterward.

Former Battle Creek Central Principal Bruce Barney said Throckmorton was "a solid citizen and well liked. He was a pleasant individual and very respectful. I appreciated him being a part of the student body of Battle Creek Central High School.

Central Football Coach Doug Bess said Throckmorton was one of 12 seniors on the 2000 Bearcat football team that started with a 1-3 record but played for the conference championship. Bess said Throckmorton was one of the seniors who inspired the underclassmen and probably help mold teams which were undefeated the next two years.

"He was an undersized center and only played at 170 pounds, which in our division was awfully small to play, but yet he was one of the leaders of the offensive line," Bess said. "He worked his butt off in football. He was undersized but he would work his butt off against bigger kids. He played hard. I don't know of anyone who didn't like Josh. It is just a tragedy."

Bess said his own son was on the team. "They weren't best buddies but they were teammates and we were talking about Josh and he said, 'Dad, he was just a really good guy.'"

His grandfather remembers Joshua as a young man willing to help, often volunteering with him to assist the local American Legion post.

Wife, Leslie, said her husband, "was an amazing man. He loved his children to death. They were his world. His family meant everything to him."

"He was a soldier doing his job and he couldn’t wait to get home," Leslie said. "He was a great person. He was the best."

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton was killed in action on 7/5/11.