Based: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: December 19, 2006
Fallouja, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Merced
High School: Buhach Colony High School (Atwater)
Burial: San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery, Santa Nella, Calif.
Pickard, 20, was killed by a sniper Dec. 19 near Fallouja, west of Baghdad, during his second deployment. He was an amphibious assault vehicle driver assigned to the 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.Read the whole LA Times article about Marine Corporal Joshua D. Pickard here and read more here and visit Corporal Pickard's Guest Book and see him and the Pickard family honored here at Malibu Boats.
Relatives described Pickard as adventurous, easygoing and a lover of the outdoors. He enjoyed snowboarding, wakeboarding, four-wheeling, hunting and wrestling.
[His brother] Darren Pickard said he and his brother were never in Iraq at the same time but they shared a sense of mission. "I never worried about myself, but we all kind of worried about him because he's the more action-prone one of the family," he said.
[His mother] said the impact her son had on others can be seen in a letter written to Joshua after his death by four corporals who served with him.
"It was you who raised our spirits when we were down, made us smile when it seemed as if there was nothing to smile about ... ," the letter states. "God doesn't make men like you very often."
In addition to his mother and brother Darren, Pickard is survived by his father, Larry; two other brothers, Dylan and Tyson; and his grandparents.
The family has asked that anyone wanting to honor Joshua's life make donations to Gateway Community Church in Merced to help students go on the Mexico mission trip.
1 comment:
Miss you bro
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