Sgt. Joshua Ryan Ashley, USMC

05/27/1989 - 07/19/2012

Click HERE to view Sgt. Ashley's Biography.

Marine Cpl. (Sgt.) Joshua R. Ashley, 23, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., died July 19 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. His dog, Sirius, survived the incident.

Joshua R. Ashley was assigned to 2nd Law Enforcement Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant.

Ashley enlisted in the Marines in 2008. Following boot camp, he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, from 2009 to 2011, then at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He deployed to Afghanistan in May 2012.  In Afghanistan, on Aug. 17, his surviving partner, Sirius, lay next to a traditional field memorial constructed in Sgt. Ashley’s honor, as more than 100 coalition service members gathered in the Regional Command Southwest chapel.

During the memorial ceremony, Cpl. Ryan G. Hale said: “We all know Sgt. Ashley to be an outstanding Marine. But to most of us, he was an outstanding person and an outstanding friend. Always remember 19 July 2012. Sergeant, thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice. Watch over us.”

He is survived by parents John and Tammie Ashley and brothers John and Jordan.