Army Reserve Sgt. Joseph C. Nurre, 22, Wilton; Killed in Explosion in Iraq

Sgt. Joseph C. Nurre, 22, of the Army Reserve’s 463rd Engineer Battalion was their only child, and the last thing Charlie and Leigh Nurre of Wilton, a suburb of Sacramento, wanted was to see him go to war.

But, on Dec. 5, Nurre, an M-60 machine gunner, was deployed to Iraq for a one-year tour.

Last Sunday, two military men came with the news that their son had been killed that day near Samarra, Iraq, when a roadside bomb hit his military vehicle during convoy operations.

“We cried and never stopped crying,” said Leigh Nurre, a commercial real estate broker. “We had a son who was so special and so compassionate, and had such a huge heart.”

“He was very proud to serve his country,” said Charlie Nurre, an elementary school teacher. “Joe was a wonderful person. He was a terrific son. He always had a friendly smile and was a great storyteller. We will miss him dearly.”

Nurre was an outgoing man who loved to make friends. His passions were football and the beach at Capitola, where the family had a house, his parents said.

In Iraq, his assignment was building roads, bridges and berms. In convoys, he sat on top of a Humvee with a machine gun to protect his unit.

Mike Clemons, football coach at Elk Grove High School, where Nurre had been a defensive lineman, said his student had an “unbelievable work ethic.”

Nurre applied himself by training to become a valuable member of the football team, Clemons said. “If you told him to be in the weight room at 6, he would be there at 5,” he said.

Nurre also was deeply spiritual, Clemons said.

Before Nurre left for Iraq, the coach and player met with a Catholic priest, who blessed Nurre and gave him missals to take with him.

An outpouring of love and sympathy from friends and relatives has comforted the family.

Messages on her son’s website from his many friends speak to how deeply he touched others, his mother said.

Typical was one from Angela: “You are an inspiration to all of us. You showed us what a true friend is every day you spent with us. You are truly an angel from God.... There are no words to describe your outgoing, funny, loving personality. Thank you for everything.”

After high school, Nurre attended Cal State Sacramento for two years, majoring in construction management.

Then, changing plans, he joined the Army Reserve. While awaiting assignment, he attended American River Junior College.

The couple last saw their son July 13, when he left for Iraq for a second time after a two-week visit. “That was a God-given gift,” his mother said. “He was so loving.”