CPT Josh Byers

Captain Joshua Byers, an Army Ranger and paratrooper, was a Company Commander in 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and was deployed to Iraq in April 2003. Byers, 29, was killed on July 23, 2003 when the convoy he was leading hit an explosive device near the town of Ramadi, about 60 miles from Baghdad. Captain Byers was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Valor. He was a graduate of West Point class of 1996. He lived a life of integrity, discipline and honor.

Josh was born in Anderson, SC and his family moved several times during his years at home.  He graduated from Reed High School in Sparks, NV.  He was always quite the jokester and loved telling stories. Josh loved baseball and played during his school years. He never met a stranger and was always smiling. He played football in high school and was on the sailing team at West Point.

His favorite thing to eat was “cake batter”. He would mix a whole recipe and eat several small bowls of it sitting in front of the tv.  When he was a junior in high school he and a couple of friends went out late one night to TP  (toilet tissue) another friend’s house. Thinking he would get away with it and never be caught or that we would find out about it, he got a surprise that night. As they were running from the house out to the street he knocked one of his hips out of joint. Of course, his friend that he was spending the night with called us about 11 PM and said that Josh was being put into the ambulance and would be at the Sparks Family Hospital in the emergency room. He told us to hurry because Josh was in a great deal of pain and he couldn’t be treated or given any mediation until we got there.