Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Davis

Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Davis, 19, of Perry, Iowa, died May 7 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Reported by Dave Roberts, droberts@action3news.com

A young man from Perry, Iowa joined the Marines eager to serve his country. His service ended tragically last Friday in Afghanistan. A militant killed 19-year-old Lance Corporal Joshua Davis as he was trying to protect fellow Marines by diffusing a roadside bomb. His death leaves a small Iowa community in mourning. "He said he wasn't afraid to die. He wasn't afraid to die he was just ready to go," says Davis' best friend Seth Coleman. Proud to leave for the marines, months ago friends said goodbye to Davis. Little did they know, it was for good. "Instantly it hit me and I started balling. I couldn't hold it in," says friend Bailey Lott. Josh Davis' best friends remember a kind, protective young man. A person who loved his inner circle of friends as much as the entire community. "I can't imagine his mindset. Just how big his heart is tdroberts@action3news.como go over there and do all the things that he did," says Coleman. A 2009 graduate, Davis played football and wrestled. "He was a team guy. He maybe wasn't the star player on the football team. He was a lineman. He was in the trenches doing the dirty work," says Gary Czerniakowski, Perry High School Assistant Principal. Dirty work didn't scare Davis. That's one reason friends say he joined the marines. Proud to serve his country and his patriotic family. A home where red white and blue is not just decorative, but a way of life