Joshua Lorencz

Staff Sergeant, United States Marine Corps

May 7, 1992 –September 20, 2017
Age – 25
Ferndale, MI

Operation Enduring Freedom
Marine Corps Detachment Dam Neck, Virginia Beach, VA

Died from an undetected brain aneurysm

Staff Sergeant Lorencz died from an undetected brain aneurysm that burst and he immediately fell to the ground. He was kept on life support until his family arrived to say their final goodbyes.

Joshua joined the U.S. Marine Corps Nov. 2, 2011. He attended boot camp at MCRD San Diego, Calif., followed by Intelligence School. He was soon deployed to Afghanistan and was then stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for three years. Upon his return to the states, Joshua became an intelligence instructor at the Marine Corps Detachment, Dam Neck Annex of Oceana.

Joshua was also a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program Instructor as he himself held a black belt and had recently been accepted to the seven-week instructor trainer course at the Martial Arts Center of Excellence in Quantico, Virginia to become a Red Tab instructor. There were so many things in life that Joshua loved; hunting deer, salmon fishing in Lake Michigan, wood working, snowboarding, golf, video games, watching Michigan State and Detroit Lions games, and loving his fur babies.

My husband was a great man who put all before himself,” his wife Lexie. “Our time together was cut short but he will always be with me. It was made very obvious this weekend that he touched so many lives during his Marine Corps career, doing exactly what he loved. He will forever be missed.”

His military awards are listed as the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, NATO Medal – ISAF, Afghanistan, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, a letter of appreciation, certificate of appreciation and a certificate of commendation, according to the Marine Corps.