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Joseph Anthony Bovia |
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Kenner,
Louisiana |
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August 31, 2010 |
| Age |
Military |
Rank |
Unit/Location |
| 24 |
Marine |
Sgt |
3rd
Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine
Expeditionary Force
Okinawa,
Japan
|
|
|
Killed while
supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. |
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| Joseph Anthony Bovia, age 24, was serving his third tour in the Middle East when he was killed in Hellmand Province, Afghanistan on August 31, 2010. Joseph was a Sgt. in the USMC and served as the leader of the Combat Engineer Platoon assigned to the 2/9 Echo Company. Joseph was involved in constructing an outpost to guard an elementary school when his platoon came under attack by taliban forces. Joseph had served in the USMC for 6 years and volunteered for two tours in Iraq and this tour in Afghanistan. He loved his country and the Corps. He is survived by his parents Herbert and Teresa and brother - Matthew and Sister in law Kaitlin. |
From WDSU TV6 wdsu.com
09/01/10:
Kenner Marine Dies In Afghanistan
POSTED: 9:50 pm CDT September 1, 2010
UPDATED: 10:07 pm CDT September 1, 2010
NEW ORLEANS -- A local family is remembering a Marine from Kenner who was killed in fighting in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Joseph "Joey" Bovia could make friends within minutes, friends said. The Bonnabel High school graduate was fun-loving, yet focused. It was this dedication to duty and defending freedom that will be remembered most, friends said.
"Yesterday, between 6:30 and 7 in the evening the Marines came," said Joseph's mother, Teresa Bovia.
It's an image she won't soon forget.
"When you see 'em at the door you know," she said staring blankly as she recalled the image burned in her mind.
When she got word her son -- 24-year-old Joseph Bovia -- was killed during a firefight in Afghanistan, her heart sank.
"We cry a lot, but we are incredibly proud of him," said Bovia.
Like his father -- a 30 year NOPD veteran -- Joseph was committed to service. He was on his third tour of duty after having enlisted at the age of 17 with his parent's blessing.
"He was excited. He wanted to be there," said Bovia.
"Joey was a child of God and the good Lord above has him now. God is the one who called him to do this as a profession. God gave him the strength to be trained to do what he did to to defend our country," said Bovia.
Bovia had hoped her son would stay when he came home for his brother's wedding last December, but those hopes were instantly dashed.
"He was in the car 15 minutes and he said 'wait--before we get too far-- I need to tell you something. I'm going back (to Afghanistan). I volunteered. I'll be home for six months but I'm going back,'" said Bovia.
And when he went back, he begged his captain to reassign him so he could go on this deployment with the Marines he had trained, and he begged until they changed his billet and let him go.
His girlfriend is now the one letting go. The two met in junior high. She said her faith keeps her strong. It was a love the couple shared, said his mother.
"We wouldn't any of us be here without the good Lord, and our country has to get back to that if we want to survive,"
Bovia is survived by his mother, Teresa and father, Herbert and brother Matthew. Joseph Bovia will be laid to rest with full military honors.
The funeral service is Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church of New Orleans on Canal. |
| From nola.com
09/06/10:
Americans owe a debt of gratitude to Marine Sgt. Joseph Bovia and his family:
An editorial
Published: Monday, September 06, 2010, 6:26 AM Updated: Monday, September 06, 2010, 10:35 AM
By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune
Marine Sgt. Joseph Bovia had already served his country honorably in a combat assault battalion when he gave up a stateside position earlier this year to return to Afghanistan.
joseph_bovia_crop.JPGMarine Sgt. Joseph Bovia was shot and killed in Afghanistan last week.
The Kenner native was part of an expeditionary force that hunted for roadside bombs ahead of his comrades -- an extremely dangerous job. His family knew this would be a challenging deployment, and so did Sgt. Bovia. But the war is where he wanted to serve his country.
Sgt. Bovia was five weeks into his latest tour when he was shot and killed in a skirmish with Taliban fighters last week. Americans owe him and his family a debt of gratitude for his service and their sacrifice.
A service for Sgt. Bovia will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of New Orleans on Canal Boulevard. L.A. Muhleisen & Son Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Sgt. Bovia was the 944th member of the U.S. military killed in Afghanistan. That's a stark reminder that even as the Iraq war appears to be winding down and the focus shifts back to Afghanistan, families across metro New Orleans and the rest of the country continue to pay a heavy price for our nation's security.
Sgt. Bovia was more than willing to carry that burden.
Military service was a family tradition extending back generations, including his grandfather, grand-uncle and uncle. Sgt. Bovia's father, New Orleans Police Department veteran Herbert Bovia, said his son was a 17-year-old student at Bonnabel High School when he asked that his parents sign for him to joint the Marines. If they did not, the young Bovia promised to sign himself up as soon as he turned 18 the following January.
"He loved being a Marine more than anything," said his brother, Matthew.
Sgt. Bovia also loved his country.
"We had a feeling that this wasn't going to be an easy deployment," his father said. "We felt something could go wrong."
Despite the danger, Sgt. Bovia chose to serve. We're all thankful for that -- and we mourn his loss.
© 2011 NOLA.com. All rights reserved. |
| From The Stars & Stripes stripes.com
09/02/10:
Okinawa Marine killed in Afghanistan
By David Allen
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 2, 2010
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — An Okinawa-based Marine was killed in a firefight Tuesday in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the Department of Defense reported Wednesday.
He was identified as Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia, 24, of Kenner, La., assigned to the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Bovia was one of six Americans killed in action Tuesday and among 56 U.S. troops who died in August, most of them in the past two weeks as the Taliban stepped up attacks in their southern and eastern strongholds, according to the DOD.
The DOD did not release further information on the six deaths.
“Sergeant Bovia was an outstanding Marine, the epitome of what we expect from our noncommissioned officers, and a fine man,” Lt. Col. Kirk D. Mullins, commander of Combat Assault Battalion here said Thursday.
Marine Corps Base Japan public affairs had no information Thursday afternoon regarding a memorial service on Okinawa.
Bovia’s parents told New Orleans television station WWL that their son also served two combat tours in Iraq.
His father, Herbert Bovia, a 30-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department, said his son had been offered a stateside post as a demolitions instructor but volunteered instead for a third combat tour.
“He couldn’t wait to go,” his father told a WWL reporter. “He was bored being in the Far East, and it’s just what he wanted to do. It’s what he lived for.”
Bovia, a combat engineer, began active duty in the Marine Corps in July 2004, according to Marine officials. He began his tour on Okinawa in June 2008 and was promoted to his current rank of sergeant July 1, 2008. |
|
Marine Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia honored in dignified transfer Sept. 3
Posted 9/6/2010 Updated 9/22/2010
9/6/2010 - A U.S. Marine Corps team transfers the remains of Marine Corps Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia, of Kenner, La., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Sept. 3, 2010. Bovia was assigned to the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland
Balik) |
| From WXVT CBS 15 wxtv.com
09/02/10:
Louisiana Marine killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press - September 2, 2010 5:04 AM ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A 24-year-old Marine from Louisiana has been killed in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday the death of Sgt. Joseph A. Bovia, of Kenner.
Officials say Bovia died Tuesday while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.
Bovia is survived by his parents, Herbert and Teresa Bovia, of Kenner. Herbert Bovia tells WWL-TV in New Orleans that his son was his hero and that he spoke with him just a few days ago.
Bovia did two tours of Iraq before his latest mission in Afghanistan. His body is expected to be flown home next week. Funeral arrangements have been tentatively set for Sept. 8 at First Baptist Church in New Orleans at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Garden of Memories in Metairie.
Information from: WWL-TV, https://wwltv.com
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. |
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