Joseph A Jeffries - Iraq War Heroes - OurWarHeroes.org

Joseph Allen Jeffries

Beaverton, Oregon

May 29, 2004

Age

Military

Rank

Unit/Location

Army

Spc

Army Reserve’s 320^th Psychological Operations Company

Portland, Oregon

Died in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when their vehicle hit a land mine.

For Some Memorial Service Snapshots, Click photo below:

June 5, 2004

Army Spc. Joseph A. Jeffries, 21, of Beaverton, Ore.; assigned to the 320th Psychological Operations Company, Army Reserve, Portland, Ore.; was killed May 29 when his vehicle hit a land mine in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Joseph joined the Army in October 2001 and completed the Psychological Operations Specialist Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. Joey was an amateur race-car driver at the River City Speedway. It was where he and his father became more than family. They became best friends. Before Joey even had a driver's license, he was building a race car before he had anything to drive on the street. The day of his first race, we had to take him to a big parking lot to teach him how to work a stick shift. So we show up at his first race, and on the first lap he stuffs the car, nose first, into the wall. He figures he's done for the day. He slapped a chain around a big tree and put the other end around the front of his car. The quick repair got the car back on the track. Then Joey put it in reverse, reved it up and pop the clutch. He finished sixth that night. He spent every extra dime he had on his cars. Joey had asked his dad to begin working on a car for him to race when he got back from Afghanistan in September but then suggested his father build a second one so they could race side by side. He was the kid who showed up early and stayed late, and in between took pleasure in helping others. Joseph, husband of Betsy; son of Mark Jeffries and Linda Lock; brother of Terry and Heidi Jeffries; grandson of Rick and Betty Smith; nephew of Rick, Larry, Gary and Robin Smith, Mary Morris, Mike and Greg Jeffries.

DATE POSTED: MAY 31, 2004

PRESS RELEASE: 3 USASOC Soldiers killed in Afghanistan

U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, May 31, 2004) — Three U.S. Army Special Operations Command Soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan May 29 when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device there.

Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Mogensen and Spc. Joseph A. Jeffries were fatally wounded while returning to their base of operations near Kandahar when the IED detonated as they tried to avoid another explosive device in the road.

Eggers, 28, a Special Forces detachment commander, and Mogensen, 26, a Special Forces weapons sergeant, were both assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C. Jeffries, 21, was a psychological operations specialist assigned to the 320th Psychological Operations Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Portland, Ore.

The explosion also killed a U.S. Navy Sailor. All four service members were attached to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The incident is under investigation.

Eggers, a native of Cape Coral, Fla., graduated from The Citadel Military College of South Carolina in May 1997 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He completed Special Forces training in 2002 and was assigned to 1st Bn., 3rd SFG in May 2003 following Arabic language training. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and his sons, John, 6, and William, 3.

A native of Leesville, La., Mogensen enlisted in the Army in 1995 and served in a number of Special Forces assignments with the 3rd SFG. He was a senior Special Forces noncommissioned officer and spoke French. Mogensen is survived by his wife, Tanya, and three children, Joshua, 10, Vanessa, 6, and Leilani, 8 weeks.

Jeffries, of Beaverton, Ore., joined the Army in October 2001 and completed the Psychological Operations Specialist Course at Fort Bragg, N.C. He is survived by his wife, Betsy, of Beaverton, and his parents, Mark and Linda Jeffries, also of Beaverton.