Staff Sgt Joseph Duenas Gamboa
Born on Jul. 22, 1973 in Guam
Died on Mar. 25, 2008 in Iraq
United States Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Gamboa of Yigo, Guam. A sometimes-mischievous teenager, who was most often put back into his parents good graces by his older siblings. During his teenage years, he met the love of his life, Michelle, his complete opposite. Love prevailed; they married and had five children together. Joe had a variety of interests in his life, including sports, especially golf, spear fishing, and karaoke, but it was his family that was his priority. The desire to provide for them and himself a better life led him to join the military in 1999, following in his father’s footsteps. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based at Vilseck, Germany. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, two weeks shy of returning home when he was killed when he came under indirect fire. He is survived by his wife Michelle and their five children. He is additionally survived by his parents Francisco Gamboa and Cecilia Gamboa, of Dededo, four brothers and four sisters, and several relatives. His medals included the Purple Heart, Bronze Medal and Meritorious Service Outstanding Service to America, Iraq campaign medal, global war on terrorism expeditious medal, and a global war on terrorism effort medal.
Joseph was buried in Guam Memorial Park in Barrigada, Guam.
The Staff Sgt Joseph Duenas Gamboa by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
