Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Army Spc. Joseph P. Collette knew he wanted to serve his country with honor. Collette, who was killed during a combat mission in Afghanistan, was honored Wednesday, as his flag-draped casket was returned to Ohio and to his grieving wife and children.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life lined the main drive in his home town of Lancaster on Wednesday as the procession carrying Collette’s body wound its way from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base to the town and his loving wife Caela, whom he had just married in December.
Caela said they were waiting to have a proper wedding ceremony upon his return from deployment. She said that Collette left love letters hidden in their home for her to find while he was away.
“He wrote about 30 love letters and hid them in random places around the house for me to find, which I found most of them,” Caela told Stars and Stripes. “It’s just an unbelievable thing. He’s the last person on Earth to deserve something like this.
“But, honestly, out of this, I hope he gets the recognition he deserves,” she added.
And Collette is being recognized. The soldier is set to posthumously receive a Purple Heart and the rank of sergeant for the heroism he showed during the March 22 mission in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, which not only cost Collette’s life, but also the life of 33-year-old Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Will D. Lindsay.
Collette was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group, which is based in Fort Carson, Colo. Collette was born and raised in Lancaster, a town of about 40,000 where he graduated high school in 2007. Collette joined the Army shortly after graduation. Caela said the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, inspired him to serve his country.
“He told me that as soon as 9/11 happened, when we were kids, he knew right then that he wanted to join the Army,” she said. “He was getting out of the Army in February next year and had never been on deployment. He wanted to go on deployment badly.”
According to his obituary, Collette loved spending time with Caela, his two children, and his two stepchildren. He also enjoyed running, snowboarding, and four-wheeling, and almost pursued professional paintball.
He received a hero’s welcome to his hometown, where he will be buried. Hundreds gathered along the flag-lined main road in Lancaster Wednesday to honor his return, as a long procession of motorcyclists and first responders joined the casket’s journey from Rickenbacker to the funeral home.
The procession made its way under the ladders of two fire trucks which held up a billowing American flag and ended at a funeral home in the city.
RIP SPC Joseph Collette. KIA in Afghanistan – gone but never forgotten Brother! pic.twitter.com/GFfKq95AQB
— Erick Bush (@ErickJBush) April 3, 2019
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags be flown at half-staff across the state Wednesday as Lindsay’s body was returned to the state. A police-escorted motorcade took Lindsay to Fort Carson, where a memorial service is set to be held on Tuesday.
Lindsay, of Cortez, Colo., served in the special forces as a Green Beret in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Airborne. He enlisted in 2004 and is survived by his wife and four daughters.
“Will was one of the best in our formation, with more than a decade of service in the Regiment at all levels of noncommissioned officer leadership,” Col. Lawrence Ferguson, 10th Group commander, said in a news release. “We will focus now on supporting his family and honoring his legacy and sacrifice.”
Collette and Lindsay’s deaths mark the third and fourth this year in Afghanistan, where thousands of troops still remain.
