Run tragedy soldier Josh is mourned by hundreds
AFGHAN war hero Josh Hoole’s home village came to a standstill to honour him before his funeral yesterday.
More than 200 people stood at the roadside in Ecclefechan as the young corporal’s coffin was driven past.
Josh, 26, collapsed and died on July 19 on an eight-mile morning training run in the Brecon Beacons in Wales on the hottest day of the year.
Three soldiers on an SAS exercise in searing heat died in the area in 2013. Josh’s dad has urged people not to jump to conclusions about his son’s death.
Josh served with The Rifles and had done two tours in Afghanistan.
A lone piper walked in front of his coffin as the cortege drove through his village in Dumfriesshire on the way to Crichton Memorial church in Dumfries. At the church, brother Tyrone, 27, joined a military bearer party carrying his coffin.
Josh had been due to be best man at Tyrone’s wedding tomorrow, and was set to marry fiancee Rachel McKie next year.
Since Josh’s death, some MPs have raised questions about the safety of training in high temperatures.
But his dad Philip, a former sergeant major and Iraq veteran, said: “Josh wouldn’t have been happy with the way people have had a knee-jerk reaction.
“He wouldn’t have wanted the soldiers with him, or the medics, to feel blame. He was doing his job and knew the risks.”
Phil suspects Josh, who fell ill while preparing for a sergeant’s training course, may have had a heart condition.
Police and Ministry of Defence investigations are continuing. Postmortem results are due in September.
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