PORTLAND (AP) – A 23-year-old soldier who grew up in Bath was killed by an improvised explosive device during his second tour in Iraq, officials said Friday.
Army Spc. Joseph Alan Lucas was fatally wounded Thursday while serving with an armored squadron of the 3rd Infantry Division in Balad, about 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Lucas had been living with his wife, Heather, and their 15-month-old son, Joseph Jr., in Georgia, where the division is based.
He was one of seven siblings, all boys. His father, Jeffrey Lucas Sr. of Wiscasset, said his son attended high school in Georgia and played on the football team. He had moved to Georgia nine years ago with his mother, Barbara Davis.
Joseph, who joined the Army after high school, was described as smart and easygoing, with a great sense of humor. He planned to leave the service when he returned stateside and was thinking of getting into a computer-related field, his father said.
“He was planning on getting out because he had a new wife and baby, and they bought a house in Georgia before he went back to Iraq,” Joseph Lucas said.
Lucas said a military chaplain arrived at his house Thursday to notify him about his son’s death. The announcement was made Friday by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of Joseph Lucas, who died fighting for his country in Iraq. We can never sufficiently express our gratitude for his sacrifice, and his courage forever be remembered,” Snowe said in a statement.
Gov. John Baldacci added: “All of Maine joins with Joseph’s family in their grief. I offer my respect and gratitude to all who have loved ones serving overseas.”
It’s believed to be the first death of a soldier with ties to Maine since June, when a 2004 University of Maine graduate was killed.
Second Lt. Matthew Coutu, who was the cadet commander of the Army ROTC battalion in his senior year in Orono, was killed in Baghdad when enemy forces engaged his convoy with small arms fire. He was from North Kingstown, R.I.
Before that, two members of the Maine National Guard, Sgt. Thomas Dostie of Somerville and Staff Sgt. Lynn Poulin of Freedom, were killed when a suicide bomber struck a crowded dining hall last Dec. 21 in Mosul.
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