Oklahoma Mother Grieves For Fort Lewis Soldiers Killed In Iraq

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) -- A mother in Oklahoma is one of dozens of parents grieving the loss of a soldier from a Washington state Army base.<br/><br/>Like 113 other soldiers who have died in Iraq, 28-year-old

Saturday, May 26th 2007, 6:13 pm

By: News On 6

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) -- A mother in Oklahoma is one of dozens of parents grieving the loss of a soldier from a Washington state Army base.

Like 113 other soldiers who have died in Iraq, 28-year-old Sergeant Joel Lewis was based at Fort Lewis, the Army's third-largest installation.

Lewis was killed May 6th in Baqubah, Iraq, along with five other soldiers from Fort Lewis' 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and a Russian photojournalist when a bomb exploded beneath their vehicle.

It was one of the highest casualties suffered by a single Fort Lewis unit in more than two years.

A week after Lewis' funeral, his stepfather, Bill Poindexter, says the reality of losing a son is taking its toll.

Poindexter says Lewis' mother, Gale Poindexter of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, hasn't really had time to digest her son's death.

Bill Pointdexter says that unfortunately, good men are dying in Iraq, and that this time it affected their family.

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5/8/2007 Local Mother Loses Son In Iraq