Kevin B Joyce

Full Name: Kevin Boyd Joyce

Hometown: Klagetoh / Ganado, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation

Rank/Branch: Lance Corporal (LCpl), United States Marine Corps

Key Unit(s):

• 2nd Bn, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division

Death: June 25, 2005 — Pech River area, near FOB Blessing, Kunar Province, Afghanistan

Summary: Lance Corporal Kevin Boyd Joyce was a young Navajo Marine from the Klagetoh/Ganado area of Arizona who answered the call to serve after graduating high school. Assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, he deployed to Afghanistan in 2005 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In Kunar Province—one of the most rugged and dangerous parts of the country—Kevin and his fellow Marines were tasked with patrolling steep valleys, maintaining security around remote outposts, and supporting Afghan forces in the fight against insurgents.

On the night of June 25, 2005, while returning to base along a narrow road beside the Pech River, the edge of the road gave way beneath Kevin’s vehicle. He and two other Marines bailed out as the vehicle slid; the others made it out, but the river’s powerful current swept him away. After an intense search, he was officially recovered on July 4, 2005.

Forward Operating Base Joyce was later named in his honor, ensuring his name would remain on the maps of the very valley where he served. Friends, family, and fellow Marines remember him as a quiet, good-natured warrior who carried both his people’s heritage and the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor into one of the toughest combat zones of the war.

Submitted by: his friend, Rich Brown