Joshua M. Hines killed by I.E.D.

WESTFIELD Communities in Clark and Richland counties are mourning the loss of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Hines of Westfield, killed less than three weeks into his Iraq deployment.

The 26-year-old, who was a husband and new father, died Sunday when the armored Humvee in which he was riding was hit by an improvised explosive device, reported Staff Sgt. James Primm of the Marine Forces Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division in Terre Haute, Ind.

Primm said the attack in the Al Anbar province also killed Sgt. Brock A. Babb, 40, of Evansville, Ind., and seriously wounded Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill, 29, of Greenfield, Ind. He said those Terre Haute-based reservists had been in Iraq for about 18 days when the incident happened.

Hines "was not gone very long. I think that is why it is so hard for everyone to believe it. I know it's hard for me," said longtime friend Loren Holland, a former Marine who worked with Hines at the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Olney.

The two friends grew up together in Ventura, Calif. Holland, who married an Olney woman, said he encouraged his friend to move to Illinois, and Hines consequently relocated to Olney in 2003. He said Hines joined the Marine Reserves the following year.

Hines later moved to Westfield and married Clark County resident Caryn Felkamp. Hines was training with the Marines in California when his wife gave birth to their son, Rylie. The new father was able to come home on leave to see his wife and child, who is now about 2 months old.

"That was the last time we all saw him," Holland said.

Westfield Mayor Chris Flaherty said he lives about a block away from Hines' home in the village but did not see him frequently. He said Hines' work and his training with the Marines often kept him away.

"When he was home, he was with his family," Flaherty said.

Flaherty said he got the news about Hines' death Sunday evening from a village board member, and his cellular phone then started ringing with other calls. He said word spread quickly in the community of about 700 residents about the Marine's death.

"They are very upset. It's a tragic loss," Flaherty said. "You don't imagine someone from here dying over there."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been made for Hines, Staff Sgt. Primm reported.

From the Herald Review