GJ man dies in Iraq

Three times, Wade Oglesby put his life on hold so he could take care of others.

When he was a boy, he became a father figure when his sister Samantha was born.

When he was a teen, he took care of his ailing mother, holding her hand as she died four years ago.

When he was a man, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, going to war in Iraq, taking care of the men in his unit, fighting for his country.

At age 28, at the wheel of a Humvee, driving the lead vehicle of a four-vehicle convoy north of Baghdad, Oglesby, of Grand Junction, died Wednesday when his vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device.

Cpl. Wade Oglesby enlisted three and a half years ago at age 24.

Army representatives broke the news to Oglesby’s brother, Rick, 38, and sister, Samantha, 20, Wednesday night.

Thursday, family and friends gathered at the home of Angella and Steve Davis to cry and to recall the man who gave his life to others. Samantha was dazed, Rick cried, talking about Wade and expressing anger at the war.

“He was on a ‘friendly’ street,” north of Baghdad, Rick said. “He was driving the lead Humvee. It was supposed to be a friendly street. He didn’t see it coming.

“I’ve been up all night. I worked a 10-hour shift yesterday. I’m scared to go to sleep. I don’t want to dream.”

Wade Oglesby was born in Denver on Oct. 22, 1979, during Monday Night Football, Rick remembered, a smile briefly crossing his face. That night, the Denver Broncos were trounced by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 42-7.

But Rick, at age 10, won, because he finally got a little brother.

“I was the only son until then,” Rick said.

When Wade was 5, his father left the family. In 1986, they moved to Grand Junction; here, they were closer to their grandparents, Otto and Laverne Bray.

Samantha was born later, and with Rick mostly grown by then, Wade assumed the responsibilities as the man of the family. He was 8. He became the father figure to Samantha, she said.

Wade didn’t like being in Iraq, Rick said.

“He didn’t like it. In his last e-mail to me, he said he had to go raid houses,” he said.

Angella Davis had a different take.

“He really enjoyed the military,” Angella Davis said. “It was a really hard time for Rick. Rick was afraid he was going to lose his brother.”

But Wade “felt he really needed to do this for his brother and his sister. He felt it was really important to him, even if it meant he could die.”

“He found himself there. It was probably the happiest time in his life,” said Sheila Decocq, whose husband Gary became Wade’s stepfather after Wade’s mother died.

“He was doing something for himself ... instead of doing something for everyone else at that point.”

Oglesby served in the Second ID, Striker Brigade. His service had just been extended to October.

He told his step-mother, Sheila Decocq, about the extension in a long conversation recently.

“I got to talk to him for a good hour Saturday,” Decocq said. “He really sounded good. He said, ‘Don’t worry about me, no scratches, nothing. We just occasionally get shook up.’

“He’s coming home now. Not the way we wanted.”

Oglesby didn’t finish high school. He dropped out of Grand Junction High School to care for his mother, Linda Oglesby, who had congestive heart failure.

When she died four years ago, “he decided he wanted to do something with his life so he joined the military,” Rick said. “He decided to join the Army, the artillery.

“He was a good guy. He moved up the ranks real quick,” Rick said. “When he was out of Iraq, he planned on joining the sheriff’s department because he liked working with people. He’d do anything for anybody. He never complained.

“He was the most responsible guy I’ve met. He was perfect. He was a corporal. He enlisted and he was corporal.”

“He was a leader,” Samantha said. “Wade never ever messed up.”

“When he joined the military, he excelled. He was special. He doesn’t deserve this,” Rick said.

“He was a soldier from birth,” Angella Davis said.

“The boy gave up his childhood to raise his sister,” Angella Davis said. “He gave up his teenage years to help his dying mother and he gave up his life to protect his country.”

In addition to Rick and Samantha, Wade Oglesby is survived by his niece, Julianna and his nephew, Xavier, his step-parents, Gary and Sheila Decocq, and the Davises, family friends.

Arrangements haven’t been made yet.

<i>Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.</i>