Lancaster native in Army killed overseas
Theodore Decker’s column will return Tuesday. A Lancaster High School graduate was killed in Afghanistan last week, the U.S. Department of Defense announced this weekend. Joseph P. Collette, 29, died Friday in Kunduz province as a result of injuries he suffered on
a combat mission, the department said in a news release.
Collette was a specialist assigned to the Army’s 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, based in Fort Carson, Colorado.
The department said Collette was killed when the unit he was with encountered enemy fire. The incident remains under investigation.
Col. David K. Green, commander of the 71st EOD, said he was “deeply saddened” by Collette’s death and extended his sympathies, along with those of the unit, to Collette’s family and friends.
Collette graduated from Lancaster High School in 2007.
Funeral arrangements are pending through Frank Smith Funeral Home.
Collette’s body is expected to be returned to the
Lancaster area Sunday.
Collette had gotten married just prior to his deployment, his widow, Caela Collette, told Stars and Stripes, a military publication. The deployment, which began Dec. 27, was his first overseas, according to information provided by the Defense Department.
Caela Collette said the couple had planned to have a “proper wedding ceremony” and possibly have children together when he returned from his deployment, which was scheduled to end this summer.
The Defense Department said Joseph Collette had entered the Army in November 2010. He received commendations during his service, including an Excellence in Competition Rifleman Badge, two Army Good Conduct medals, four Army Achievement medals and a Purple Heart.
Department of Defense representatives said they were not able to confirm Saturday whether the Purple
Heart would be awarded posthumously.
Also killed on Friday was Sgt. 1st Class Will D. Lindsay of Cortez, Colorado. Lindsay was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), also based at Fort Carson.
The Associated Press reported that an Afghan lawmaker from Kunduz province had described heavy fighting in the area.
Two other U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan this year. Thirteen were killed there in 2018.
The U.S. has approximately 14,000 troops in Afghanistan; many are special-forces units operating in support of Afghan troops fighting the Taliban and the Islamic State.
A procession carrying Collette’s remains from Rickenbacker Airport to Lancaster is tentatively scheduled for Monday. Details had not been released as of Saturday evening.
bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner