Captain Joshua Meadows
Joshua Stewart Meadows was born on June 9, 1979 In Austin, Texas. He was the youngest child of Robert Read Meadows and Jan Ellen Hultberg. His only sibling was his older sister Erin Read Meadows who was born in 1977. His father was a rancher, a builder and a pilot who raised his two children in his beloved central Texas. Robert had served in the Marine Corps and had fought in the Vietnam War.
Josh’s family moved from Austin to Elgin, Texas where Josh graduated from Elgin High School in 1997. He was an Eagle Scout and earned his private pilot's license at the age of 16. Josh’s desire to be a Marine like his father caused him to sign up for the Marine Corps on May 27, 1997 even before he graduated from high school. He was on active duty after graduation and reported to boot camp in San Diego. In January 1998, he enrolled at Texas Tech University where he earned a business degree. While at Texas Tech, he served in a reserve unit and was trained as a Pilot UH-IN Qualified. Upon his graduation from the university he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in December of 2001 and was designated as a naval aviator in March 2004.
On August 14, 2004, Josh married Angela Foster in Midland, Texas. Josh had met Angela while they were both students at Texas Tech. Angela was born on September 18, 1978 in San Angelo, Texas, the daughter of Wayland Lee Foster and Debra Wynn McClure.
As a military family, Josh and Angela settled in Carlsbad, California where Josh was assigned to Camp Pendleton, California, where he served for more than five years and flew Huey helicopters. He 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.
He had reached the rank of Captain and in November of 2008 he was assigned to the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command and his unit was assigned to duty in Afghanistan.
On Saturday, September 5, 2009, Josh who was 30 years old was killed while supporting combat operations in the western Afghanistan province of Farah, near the Iranian border in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He died from wounds sustained during a firefight. No other details were released by the U. S. Defense Department on the circumstances surrounding his death. He was two weeks away from returning home, and his wife, Angela, was waiting for his return to tell him whether the baby she was carrying was a boy or a girl.
Jeff Carter, president at Prosperity Bank in Elgin, said he has known the Meadows family for 25 years, and that Josh was deeply committed to his life as a Marine. "He was just a very polite young man, very 'Yes, sir, No, sir,'" Carter said. "He was also just a committed individual. Some people join the military, and it's just a job. But he approached it like it was his destiny. He really felt a sincere duty to serve his country."
Josh was laid to rest in Greenwood, Texas, a small community south of the Midland/Odessa area.
Josh and Angela Meadows
Medals of Josh Meadows
LINEAGE: (Joshua Stewart Meadows was the son of Robert Read and Jan Ellen Hultberg Meadows, grandson of Henry Edward and Read Thomas Meadows, 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. Stanley was the seventh child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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