Collette, Joseph P.

 (Feather Photo Pending)

Joseph P. Collette

Lancaster, Ohio

Feather Location: pending

Military Times: 29, of Lancaster, Ohio, died from wounds sustained in combat operations in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, on March 22, 2019. Sgt. 1st Class Will D. Lindsay was also killed in the incident. Collette was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Group. It was Collette's first deployment. Collette was a recipient of the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Badge and the Senior Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge

Columbus Dispatch: SGT, Joseph P. Collette, age 29, of Fountain, CO born and raised in Lancaster, OH died serving his country in Afghanistan on March 21st, 2019. He graduated from Lancaster High School in 2007 and enlisted in the U.S. Army for 8 years 4 months where he was an EOD technician.. 

He was in 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 62nd Ordnance Company, 71st Ordnance Group stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO. Joseph enjoyed running, snowboarding, Pokémon, gaming, and 4-wheeling. He almost went professional in paintball. He had a passion for cooking and loved spending time with his family and friends. All who knew Joseph will greatly miss his amazing personality, sense of humor, and his love for life.

Task & Purpose: Collette, a Lancaster, Ohio native assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group at Fort Carson, Colorado, had married the December before his first overseas deployment to Afghanistan. "He told me that as soon as 9/11 happened when we were kids he knew right then that he wanted to join the Army," his wife told Stars and Stripes. "He was getting out of the Army in February next year and had never been on deployment. He wanted to go on deployment badly." 

Joseph wrote "about 30 love letters" to his new wife Caela, hiding them in their home for her to discover during his time away. "[He] hid them in random places around the house for me to find, which I found most of them," Caela Collette told Stars and Stripes on the Saturday after his death. "So last night, it was really comforting sitting down, reading through those, because it's almost like he was preparing for this exact scenario." 

Carver: pending

Wood: pending