I wanted to publicly thank Mr. Mike King for including my son, Lance Corporal Joshua David Isaac, in Peachtree City’s 2015 Memorial Day celebration. This was a great honor and I am grateful for this recognition.
However, there were some facts about my son that were not mentioned that I feel should have been. The other two honorees were Green Berets, having won many medals, including the Purple Heart.
My son’s military career was cut short before he could earn any medals. My son, although a certified scuba diver, snorkeler, and swimmer, drowned under suspicious circumstances during a water survival training exercise on Parris Island during basic training.
From the time my son could talk, he wanted to be a fireman, a soldier and a policeman. My son achieved all of these goals to some extent by the time he was 19.
At the young age of 14, Josh achieved his Eagle Scout ranking in the Boy Scouts. He attended Philmont Scout Camp in Arizona twice, completing both times an exhausting and arduous two week hike up a mountain. While a junior in high school, he was selected from all the high schools in Georgia to be the Georgia state representative to the 2001 FBI Youth Leadership Program at Quantico.
Josh spent a week being an FBI agent-in-training and completed the Yellow Brick Road obstacle course even though he had a fractured foot. After graduating from this week-long program, Josh was elected to be the Vice President of Finance for the Youth Leadership Program Alumnae Association and was made an honorary member of the Georgia FBI Graduates Association after his accident.
Josh graduated from McIntosh High School in 2003 and while a senior there, completed the coursework to become a Firefighter 1 and was accepted as a Peachtree City volunteer firefighter.
Those who attended Monday’s Memorial Day services who did not know my son may have wondered why he was included with the other two heroes that were honored. I hope that you will publish this letter so that people will know that, given the chance, my son could have achieved so much more.
Semper Fi!
Malia Brooks Isaac
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Ms. Brooks is the mother of Lance Corporal Joshua David Isaac.]
