MENTOR, OH, USA U.S. Army CPL, HHC, 2D BATTALION, 35TH INFANTRY, 3 BCT, SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI MULTAKA, IRAQ 08/22/2007
Joshua Harmon’s smile got him in trouble on his first day of boot camp. He couldn’t stop grinning when an officer gave him orders. He was also fearless and lived life to the fullest. Joshua Harmon grew up in a small town near Lake Erie. During his deployment, he regularly kept in contact with his family and friends. “He loved his family. He loved his friends,” his mother said. That’s the kind of kid he was, said his mother, Donna Harmon. He could walk into a room of strangers and leave with 10 friends.
While Joshua was on vacation in Qatar, he snapped a picture of himself and three locals playing a board game. He didn’t know the men, the game or even the language, but he was still able to coax a smile for the camera. Loved ones remembered how he had a great sense of humor and smile and easily made friends. Joshua enjoyed music from country to rap and played the drums and guitar with his bands Subhumans and Headfirst. He also liked working on cars.
Joshua joined the Army in August 2005 and was transferred to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii in April 2006 after he completed his advanced individual training in Houston. A few months before he died, Joshua married his wife, Kristen, by proxy. The couple met in Hawaii, where they planned to live and he planned to become a doctor. He was taking biology classes online and preparing for medical school. Donna Harmon said, “He loved it out there. He and Kristin, they had an apartment.” Family friend, Erix Lemr, said Josh couldn’t wait to be with his wife. “He had put a deposit down on an apartment. He had bought a car for her,” said Lemr. “She was moving back out there in two weeks.” “He was so looking forward to coming home. He had everything set up,” said Donna Harmon. “He had a countdown on his my space account. She was the love of his life.”
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