"He had an amazing ability to make people laugh," said Trevor Bulls, who was Pearce's youth minister for two years at First Baptist Church in Guymon. "He was a joke-cracker, a prankster. He was just a funny guy to be around."

A specialist in the U.S. Army, Pearce was killed Sunday in Iraq when his vehicle ran over an explosive device. He was 21.

Pearce had been in Iraq about six months. He joined the military after graduating from Guymon High School in 2003, Assistant Principal Randy Williams said.

Pearce's brother, Sgt. Jeremy Pearce, 24, also is in the Army serving in Iraq. He is scheduled to fly home with his brother's body.

Guymon High School seniors voted Joshua Pearce "Life of the Party" three years ago, Williams said. Pearce also was a pitcher on the baseball team, he said.

"He was always smiling and having a good time," Williams said. "He always had a good attitude. He got in his share of trouble. But he stood up and said, 'Yes, I did it,' and took his punishment."

In a public letter Pearce wrote Sept. 11, 2005, -- it was published Tuesday in the Guymon Daily Herald -- he spoke about his experiences in Rawah, Iraq.

"The people here need help, and the way I see it, I'm not here to kill someone," he wrote. "I am here to help as many as I can live a better life. If killing some people to save the life of a fellow soldier happens to fall in the agenda, so be it. We drive down the streets of these

"People ask why that is important enough to put your life on the line everyday for," Pearce also wrote. "When you get here you realise (sic) exactly what the U.S. of A. really has to offer. I can honestly say that at this point in my life, I cannot think of a single fault about it."

Later in the one-page letter, Pearce wrote, ". . . I do not want to die, but if that's what I was put on this earth to do, then everyone should know that I went for a cause that in my heart was worth dying for."

Rhett Morgan 581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com