Joseph Price

Joseph Price sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

I was his first permanent party first sergeant. Bravo Battery. Five-Five Deuce. He joined at the end of 2005. Came to the unit in 2006. He never made sergeant. He was a launcher. He was a rock.

Born May 26, 1986. Rural road near Red Mesa. Durango, Colorado. Back seat of a Cadillac. An EMT pig farmer delivered him. Thirteen acres. Pigs. His mom in the garden. Salt of the earth people.

They moved to Utah when he was three or four. His brother was born with eye conditions. Aniridia. Glaucoma. Needed care. Raised Mormon. LDS. He is not a Mormon anymore. The name Joseph still means something. He thinks he was named for Joseph Smith.

Carl Sagan. Cosmos. Star Trek. Einstein. He wanted to be an inventor. Later they told him ADHD. Names and dates slip. Three-digit math in his head falls apart. Words stay. Thought experiments. He would build a theory and then tear it down.

Sergeant Baney was team chief. Price found a drop of oil on PMCS. They had to take it to the shop. Baney was not happy. This is what you trained me. How dare I follow the procedures. Before a big trip a reloader ran a bad leak that became a nightmare. Doing the checks mattered.

He is forgetful. Sleep is a mess. Late to formation. He still tried to do the duty. I wanted the guy who would find the leak and report it. That was him.

He talks like a philosopher now. He put himself on the tape on purpose. Hope. No malice. I am proud of him. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.