A Fort Lewis soldier on his first combat deployment was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle.

Spc. Joseph M. Lewis of Terrell, Texas, served as a cavalry scout with 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He is the 29th member of the brigade to die since it deployed to southern Afghanistan in July.

Lewis, 26, first joined the Army in June 2005 and served a yearlong tour in South Korea. He arrived at Fort Lewis in February 2007 and was serving with the brigade’s 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, when he was killed in Kandahar.

“We are heartbroken, but are proud of Joe’s dedication and service to our country,” his family said in a statement to his hometown newspaper, the Terrell Tribune. “He loved his job, country, family and friends. Joe wanted to be a soldier since he was a child. The family called him ‘G.I. Joe.’

“He was fun-loving and would do anything to help others. We shall miss him. We ask for your prayers and support for all the members of our military stationed all over the world.”

Lewis is survived by his wife, Theresa, and their infant daughter, Abigail, according to the Tribune.

The death came as a shock to his close-knit hometown, several local television stations reported. Five service members from the city of 13,000 people east of Dallas have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, KTVT-TV reports.

“They’re just salt-of-the-earth people,” Terrell Mayor Hal Richards told the television station. “The kind of people who do all the work in the church.”

The city’s fire chief, Jim Harper, told KDFW-TV the city hopes to hold a large, public ceremony for Lewis.

“Obviously, a lot of this falls to what the family would like, but the city of Terrell will turn out and bring this young man home,” he said, “just like we brought all the rest of them home.”

Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758

scott.fontaine@thenewstribune.com

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