Freedom Remembered

Born: June 18, 1980 in Scotts Valley, California
Died: January 26, 2005 in Korean Village, Iraq

Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence of Scotts Valley, California is the oldest son of James and Becky Spence and attended Beach High School. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Joseph joined the Marines. He was inspired by his father who had been a leatherneck. The day after he completed boot camp, he went to get the same Marine bulldog mascot tattoo his father had. Joseph first asked permission to marry his childhood sweetheart, Elisabeth, when he was 16 and she was 14. Her parents told him no at least a dozen times. But one day he showed up in his Marine uniform, and they saw his determination and pride, and they knew at that point that he would make a good husband for Elisabeth. The young couple were married on December 28, 2002. Soon after he left for Iraq, Elisabeth gave birth to their daughter. Though he never met his child in person, he was able to connect via video conference just a month before he was killed. He was just two weeks away from ending his tour of duty. He is survived by his parents, his wife Elisabeth, daughter, Providence and two brothers, Tommy and Roger.
Marines
1st Battalion
3rd Marine Regiment
3rd Marine Division
III Marine Expeditionary Force
Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Burial is at Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz, California

The Lance Cpl Joseph Boyd Spence by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.