POSTED: 12:47 pm EST December 16, 2005
UPDATED: 2:55 pm EST December 16, 2005
PORTLAND, Maine -- A 23-year-old soldier with ties to Maine has been killed
by an improvised explosive device during his second tour in Iraq.
Army Spc. Joseph Alan Lucas, who grew up in Bath, was killed Thursday in
Balad, about 40 miles north of Baghdad.
Lucas was assigned to an armored unit with the Third Infantry Division. He
had been living with his wife and their 15-month-old son in Georgia, where
the division is based.
Lucas was one of seven siblings, all boys, and was serving his second tour
in Iraq. His father, Jeffrey Lucas Sr., of Wiscasset, said his son attended
high school in Georgia, where he had moved with his mother nine years ago.
The elder Lucas described his son as easy-going, with a great sense of humor
and very smart. He planned to leave the service when he returned stateside
and was thinking of getting into a computer-related field.
Jeffrey Lucas was notified of his son's death Thursday when a military
chaplain came to his home. The announcement was made today by U.S. Sen.
Olympia Snowe, who said her thoughts and prayers are with the family.
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