Joshua M. Moore dies 'of wounds suffered when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device'

A graduate of Logan County High School has become Logan County's first fatality in the long-running war in Iraq.

Army PFC Joshua Moore, 20, died Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 8:08 a.m. when the HumVee he was driving in southern Baghdad ran over a pressure switch IED. The explosive device was a 55-gallon drum of homemade explosives.

According to Logan County Coroner Mary Givens, a close friend of the family, the truck flipped, throwing all four occupants out of the vehicle. Two of the passengers were also killed and the other was badly burned, Givens said.

The body of PFC Moore is being brought back to Baltimore, Md. for autopsy and DNA tests. Then his remains will be flown to Nashville and transported to Price Funeral Home in Lewisburg.

Givens said she doesn't expect the funeral to be held until the middle of next week. Some people expect the crowd too be so large that it will need to be held at Lewisburg School or Logan County High School.

Moore was very aware that his life was in danger. Givens said he had left plans for his funeral services while he was here in the past few weeks.

Josh Moore was a basketball player at Lewisburg Middle School, a Babe Ruth baseball all-star, and a high school baseball player. He gave up sports after his sophomore year to go to work. “He could have played varsity his junior and senior years, but he decided it was more important for him to start working at the Lewisburg Minit Mart,” said his high school coach, Ethan Meguiar.

PFC Joshua Moore, C Company, 1-18 Infantry, 1st Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 1st ID, FOB Falcon was in his second deployment to Iraq after enlisting in the United States Army when he graduated from LCHS in 2005.

He is the son of Jeff and Carolyn Moore of Lewisburg. He had been home for a visit around Mother's Day.

From the News-Democrat & Leader