Joshua L. Wheeler

Joshua L. Wheeler

Joshua L. Wheeler (born November 22, 1975 in Roland, Oklahoma - † October 22, 2015 in Kirkuk Province , Iraq ) was an American United States Army Delta Force Master Sergeant .

career

Wheeler came in 1995 into the US Army and completed his basic training in Fort Benning ( Georgia ). He was initially stationed in Fort Lewis ( Washington ) (from 1997 75th Ranger Regiment ) and from there completed three combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq in the course of the war on terror . In 2004 Wheeler was stationed in Fort Bragg ( North Carolina ), where he was subordinate to the United States Army Special Operations Command and from where he was sent on eleven special missions to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Wheeler was killed on October 22, 2015 during a deployment as part of Operation Inherent Resolve against Islamist terrorists of the Islamic State terrorist militia in Kirkuk province in Iraq. He was one of about twenty Delta Force soldiers who, alongside Kurdish Peshmerga special units, freed about seventy hostages whose execution was imminent. He was the first fallen soldier of the United States Armed Forces in Iraq since 2011 .

Personal

Wheeler was married for a second time. From his first marriage he had three sons who continued to live with him. His fourth son was born in August 2015. On his mother's side, Wheeler was descended from Cherokee .

Awards

Selection of awards, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Bronze Star (eleven, four of them with Combat V) Purple Heart Defense Meritorious Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal Air Medal Joint Service Commendation Medal Army Commendation Medal with silver and bronze oak leaves Joint Service Achievement Medal Army Achievement Medal with silver and two-fold bronze oak leaves National Defense Service Medal with bronze Service Star Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three bronze Service Stars Iraq Campaign Medal with bronze Service Star Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Presidential Unit Citation Valorous Unit Award (two)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DoD identifies soldier killed in commando raid in Iraq . Army Times , Oct. 23, 2015.
2. ↑ From difficult relationships with the American hero . Die Welt , October 27, 2015.
3. ↑ U- turn on the ground . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , October 24, 2015.
4. ↑ US Soldier's Life, Recreated in Army, Ends in Combat . The New York Times , October 23, 2015.
5. ↑ US Identifies American Killed in Iraq Raid as Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler . The Wall Street Journal , October 23, 2015.