Clarksville soldier comes home to stay
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, TN - 59 minutes ago
Plocica, 20, a 2006 Rossview High School graduate, was killed in Iraq June 25 when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Baghdad. ...
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A pilot pays his respects as Fort Campbell Honor Guard members prepare to move the coffin of Spc. Joshua Lee Plocica at Outlaw Field Wednesday. Plocica was killed in Iraq while serving with the 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. (Greg Williamson/The Leaf-Chronicle)Among flowing tears and an air thick with emotion, the family of Joshua L. Plocica and a crowd of about 100 people welcomed his body home from Iraq.
Plocica, 20, a 2006 Rossview High School graduate, was killed in Iraq June 25 when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Baghdad.
He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Plocica arrived at Outlaw Field at 12:51 p.m. on a private Kalitta Charters jet.
His body was welcomed by about two dozen family members in addition to a few dozen members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a nonprofit motorcycle group dedicated to honoring the memory of fallen soldiers.
The group stood at attention and displayed several large American flags to honor Plocica, and later led the procession from the airport to Neal-Tarpley Funeral Home.
"The only reason we do it is to honor that soldier and their family and let them know we won't forget them," said Pam Wynn, Wednesday's ride captain.
Plocica's family declined to be interviewed Wednesday, but previously spoke to The Leaf-Chronicle following the announcement of his death.
"Josh would want everyone to celebrate his life, not mourn his death," his mother, Lisa Thompson, said last week.
Plocica is the fifth Clarksville native to be killed in Iraq, according to the Web database icasualties.org.
The last was Rush "Mickey" Marshall Jenkins, who died Oct. 30, 2007, according to the site.
Pat Ryan, manager of Outlaw Field, said four or five bodies are brought home to the airfield every year, the last coming a couple of weeks ago.
But coming to a private airfield is something relatively new for the Army, according to Maj. Nathan Banks, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
Banks said the Army made a change about a year ago to decrease the amount of time between a soldier's death and their burial.
Banks said the time has been reduced to three to five days, a decrease from a week or more in some cases.
Concerns arose when survivors became upset about the treatment of their family member's body on its way home from the battlefield.
Banks said bodies used to be loaded on passenger planes in the cargo hold, but families were upset when they saw forklifts carrying caskets to and from the plane.
"The process has changed drastically, but the process has changed for the better," Banks said.
In Wednesday's brief ceremony, Plocica's flag-draped casket was removed from the plane by hand and carried by a six-soldier detail from Fort Campbell, who then loaded the casket into to a hearse.
Clarksville Police, Montgomery County and Davidson County Sheriff's cruisers led the procession to Neal-Tarpley Funeral Home.
Plocica's funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Neal-Tarpley Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. until the time of service Friday.
Neal-Tarpley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Burial will take place in Resthaven Memorial Gardens.
Tags: 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, 66th Armored Regiment, Clarksville, Outlaw Field, Soldiers, Spc. Joshua Lee Plocica
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