Soldier From Quinton Dies In Iraq

A soldier from Quinton, Oklahoma is remembered in Pittsburg County. 22 year old US Army Specialist Josh Sheppard was killed Friday in Baghdad. <br/><br/>The Defense Department says he was killed by small

Wednesday, December 27th 2006, 3:10 pm

By: News On 6

A soldier from Quinton, Oklahoma is remembered in Pittsburg County. 22 year old US Army Specialist Josh Sheppard was killed Friday in Baghdad.

The Defense Department says he was killed by small arms fire while on a mission. News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan talked with his family Wednesday and says his family is terribly upset over Josh's death. He had been in Iraq just four months, serving as an equipment driver for an engineering unit.

His mother, Julie Young says the military told her his convoy had stopped to investigate some enemy fighters when he was shot last Friday. Josh has four brothers, two of them in the service, and a large group of family and friends in country out near Quinton.

Josh is a graduate of Quinton High School, who signed up for the Army the summer after graduation.

He had called his mother Thursday, said he was call again on Christmas - and was hoping to come home on leave next April. Josh was killed Friday morning.

His funeral arrangements are pending, but his mother picked out a cemetery plot Tuesday, overlooking the hills where he loved to hunt and fish.

Sheppard will be awarded a purple heart and a bronze star posthumously.