On Wednesday, September 9, 2009 the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command announced Captain Joshua S. Meadows, 30, of Elgin, Texas, died September 5 while conducting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, based at Camp Pendleton Calif.
Meadows joined the Marine Corps on Sept. 28, 1996 and was trained as a Pilot UH-1N Qualified. He was promoted to Captain on July 1, 2006, joining MARSOC on May 28, 2009. His decorations include a Purple Heart, a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, one Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, a Navy Unit Commendation, four Letters of Appreciation, three Meritorious Masts and a Certificate of Commendation.
Captain Meadows is among 738 U.S. military members who have died to date in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. military action in Afghanistan after the 9-11-01 attack on New York City, according to the Defense Department.
An accomplished Marine who was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Meadows is said to have been very proud to serve his country and had been deployed overseas several times throughout his military career. In August of 2008, Meadows was the lead Marine Corps Huey helicopter pilot seeing action in the Gulf of Aden in an operation that prevented a pirate attack on the Gem of Kilakarai, a Singapore cargo ship. Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, were deployed aboard the USS Peleliu provided aerial support and explosive ordnance disposal during the mission.
Captain Meadows, who was an Eagle Scout, graduated from Elgin High School in Elgin, Texas in 1997 and joined the U.S. Marines Corps before completing his high school studies. He was listed as active duty in May 1997 and reported to boot camp in San Diego. He was on active duty there through December. In January 1998, he enrolled at Texas Tech University and served as a member of a reserve unit in Austin, where he attended monthly drills and spent six weeks in the summer with his unit. Meadows graduated from TTU with a degree in business in four years and attended one session of summer school. He then was commissioned as an officer and attended a two-year program in flight school. During that time, Meadows was stationed in Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi.
Following flight school, Meadows was stationed at Camp Pendleton for more than five years and flew Huey helicopters. In November of 2008 Captain Meadows was assigned to a special forces team unrelated to flying. Meadows and his wife, Angela of Carlsbad, Calif., were expecting their first child in just a few weeks. Meadows is the son of Jan and the late Robert Meadows of Elgin. He is survived by one sister, Erin Meadows, of Monument, Colorado.
Everyone who knew Capt. Meadows considered him a friend. He was a devout Christian and always had a sincere smile on his face. His friends described him as the kind of person everyone should strive to be. Meadows will always be remembered as a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for what he believed in.
Friends of the Meadows family encouraged all citizens and businesses in Elgin to display flags at half-staff and/or red, white and blue ribbons, especially on the main roads, in honor of fallen hometown hero, U.S. Marine Captain Joshua S. Meadows. Texas Governor Rick Perry granted approval for the entire community to fly flags at half-staff until September 12.
THE LINEAGE:
(Joshua Stewart Meadows was the son of Robert Read and Jan Ellen Hultberg Meadows, grandson of Henry Edward and Read Thomas Meadows and great-grandson of Claude William and Susan Martin Moore Meadows. Susan was the seventh child of Thomas Oscar and Sarah Adelie Thomas Moore. Sarah was the third child of Stanley and Sarah Thompson Rothrock Thomas. Stanley was the seventh child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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