Joseph M Blickenstaff

Corvallis, Oregon

December 8, 2003

When Joseph M. Blickenstaff started struggling in high school, he turned to the Army to find discipline in his life.

"He was just one of those quiet boys who was looking for direction," recalled a former teacher in Corvallis, Jim Phillips.

Blickenstaff was someone who looked out for the helpless, his brother, Eric, said at Blickenstaff's funeral.

"He would have been very proud that that big bully was captured the other day, because he didn't like bullies," his brother said, referring to Saddam Hussein's capture just days before.

Blickenstaff died Dec. 8 when his Stryker combat vehicle tumbled off a dirt road in central Iraq and landed upside down in an irrigation canal. He was based at Fort Lewis.

Blickenstaff "was proud to protect our freedoms and died helping to create them for others he will never meet. He will always be our hero," his family said in a statement.