Their Story
Remembering Joshua E. Waltenbaugh.
Pvt. Joshua Waltenbaugh, 19, of Kittanning Township, about 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, died from chest wounds sustained from small-arms fire in the past several days, his family said.
Family members said they were notified of Waltenbaugh’s death on Tuesday and that the incident is under investigation.
“We’re leaning on each other. We have good faith,” said his mother, Bonnie Waltenbaugh. “We know our days our numbered. ... Josh was proud to be serving his country. ... It was what he wanted to do.”
He was an avid bowler and worked part-time at King Lanes in Kittanning before leaving for military duty, his family said.
Waltenbaugh joined the Army as a high school junior and completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri between his junior and senior years.
Waltenbaugh, who got married less than a year ago, was a 2007 graduate of the Lenape Technical School in Manor Township. He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, before being deployed to Iraq.
He is the second Lenape student to die in the Iraq war. Army Spc. William Sturgess of South Bend Township was killed by a car bomb in January 2004.
The school plans to create a memorial to its two former students, said Lenape’s administrative director Dawn Kocher-Taylor.
“Any time you needed something, Josh was there willing to help,” said Paul Klukan, Waltenbaugh’s Boy Scout Leader and Venture Crew adviser.