Joshua M. Hardt, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Joshua M. Hardt, 24

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Carson, Colo.
3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: October 3, 2009
Kamdesh, Afghanistan
Married
Gender: Male
Hometown: Applegate
High School: Placer High (Auburn)

Joshua was proud of being in the military and of following in his brother's footsteps as a sergeant, said their father, Mike Hardt. "He was so eager to move up," he said. "He would joke about it and say there will be a day when my brother will salute me."
Mike Sabins, who was Joshua's football coach at Placer High, said the young man worked hard and was respected by the coaching staff and other players on the team. Although he was new to the school in his senior year, he fit in well with the football program, the coach said.
"He just did a great job," Sabins said. Joshua's talent and dedication were honored when his helmet was retired after his senior year, the coach said.
Joshua also loved trout and bass fishing, playing baseball and practicing karate.
He took any opportunity he could to better himself, Jonathon said: "He wanted to prove there wasn't anything he couldn't do."
Olivia Hardt, of Auburn, said the military was changing her husband for the better -- he was becoming more mature and had started seeing a military chaplain regularly for advice. She said he also was sending her fresh flowers -- red roses, or white and pink tulips -- just about every week. "He was being the best husband a guy could possibly be," she said.
Joshua had told his wife that the chaplain had urged him to treat her like a queen every single day until death.
And he did, she said.

Read the entire LA Times article here and read more here and here, with comments here,

I will miss you brother. Thank you for the lifetime of memories that I will never let go.I am very proud to have been one of your best friends. Me and the boys will tell our stories until the day we die, keeping your memory alive forever. Rest in peace, see ya at the cross roads brother.
— steve martinez
November 14, 2009 at 6:46 p.m.

Read a tribute by Congressman McClintock here.