A 23-year-old soldier raised in Bath was killed in Iraq on Thursday, less than a week before he was scheduled to be reunited with his family in Georgia.
Army Spc. Joseph Lucas of the 3rd Infantry Division was fatally wounded when a bomb known as an improvised explosive device, or IED, exploded in Balad, Iraq, according to statements issued by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and Gov. John Baldacci.
Lucas was completing his second tour of duty in Iraq and was supposed to return to Georgia on Tuesday to be with his wife, Heather, and their 15-month-old son, Joseph, according to his stepmother, April Lucas of Wiscasset.
She said Lucas, who was serving with an armored squadron, hoped to be discharged from the Army in another month or two.
"We're all devastated," April Lucas said. "Christmas is next week and he's just not going to be here."
Barbara Davis of Georgia, the late soldier's mother, said her son was a gunner on a Humvee when he was killed by a roadside bomb, but she said she did not know if any other soldiers were killed or wounded when the bomb detonated.
U.S. Army spokeswoman Annette Fournier said the Defense Department waits 24 hours after the next of kin have been notified before releasing casualty information, so more details could become available today.
Born in Kentucky, Lucas was raised in Bath and attended local schools through middle school before moving to Georgia with his mother when she and his father divorced. He played high school football and soccer and joined the ROTC in Georgia, according to family members. He enlisted in the Army a year after graduating from high school, they said.
Davis said her son and his wife of two years bought a house in Augusta, Ga., recently, and he had a head full of ideas about what he might do after he left the Army, such as working in a paper mill or becoming a state trooper.
"He was a good kid," Davis said of her son, whom she described as a quiet man. "He was fun to be around. He never got into drugs, never drank, never smoked and never got into trouble in school."
April Lucas said her stepson "was really excited" when he learned that his wife was going to have a boy; Davis said the child was her son's pride and joy.
"He was an easygoing young fellow," Jeffrey Lucas said of his son. "He was so good and so kind to everybody." Lucas' parents said they were very proud of their son.
Jeffrey Lucas criticized the war in Iraq when asked how he felt about it.
"In my opinion, the war shouldn't have happened. It was wrong," he said. He said American military personnel "were sent over there on false assumptions" in the belief that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but "nothing was found" to support that claim.
Snowe said in a statement her thoughts and prayers "are with the family and loved ones of Joseph Lucas, who died fighting for his country in Iraq."
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Lucas "was bravely serving his country when he made the ultimate sacrifice" and all Mainers are "proud and grateful for the service and dedication this young soldier gave to our nation."
Baldacci said in a statement that "all of Maine joins with Joseph's family in their grief."
Lucas is believed to be the 17th person with strong Maine ties to die in Iraq since 2003. More than 2,100 Americans have died in Iraq since March 19, 2003, according to the Defense Department's Web site.
Members of the Lucas family said Friday that funeral arrangements were incomplete, but Lucas will receive a military funeral. In addition to his parents, wife, son and stepmother, he is survived by several brothers and half-brothers.
Staff Writer Paul Carrier can be contacted at 622-7511 or at:
pcarrier@pressherald.com
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