Army Spc. Joshua Dean Sheppard's remains aren't expected to arrive from Iraq for about two weeks, putting the date for a memorial service in limbo, she said.

"When his body gets here, it's going to hit us all hard, because it's going to be like it happening all over again," she said. "It's like walking on stepping-stones of pain. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

Young said she knew things would never be the same when she saw the two Army officials outside her house Friday.

"I saw two soldiers coming down the walkway," she said. "They didn't have to say anything."

Sheppard, 22, was killed Friday by small-arms fire in Baghdad when his patrol ran across enemy fighters, according to the Department of Defense.

He was assigned to the 642nd Engineer Support Company, 7th Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Sheppard had only nine months left to serve, and news of his death devastated his four brothers, two of whom also are in the military, his mother said.

Sheppard's brother Reuben Sheppard, 23, an Army private who returned home from Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., to be with his family, said his brother's death "was a waste of someone very beneficial."

"He would have done great things," he said. "When we were in school, he was my best friend, and he

Joshua Sheppard enjoyed fishing, being outdoors and working with wood, and he had hoped to use his Army education benefits to get a degree in business after his military service.

He wanted to become a contractor and open a saw mill, Young said.

"It was his love. He loved the outside," she said. "If he got too claustrophobic sitting inside, he would go down to the woodshop."

The Youngs' woodshop was where Sheppard and his stepfather, Marty Young, would create shelves and cabinets that hang in the family's house.

Young said many people in the community and from as far away as Sallisaw have offered support and prayers for her and her family.

"There was an outpouring of kindness and compassion. I did not expect what came out," she said. "It's a testament to the human spirit of kindness."

Sheppard, who had graduated from Quinton High School in 2003, was well known in the northeastern Pittsburg County town of a little more than 1,000 people.

The rows of farm trucks outside many of the town's businesses speak of a rural way of life, where some worries lie in the upcoming hay season and many stories are about the past deer hunting season.

But the topic of conversation Wednesday at the EZ Mart, a local convenience store where many of the town's men gather to pass the time, turned from idle talk to news of Sheppard's death.

"He was a good kid," said Terry Simpson, one of five men gathered at the store. "He was such a good guy. He had a lot of stories."

Simpson said Sheppard had done yard work for him to raise money for a ticket back to New York, where he was stationed.

At the Food N More store, owner Lawanda Wiggins said Sheppard will be missed, "not only by his family but the whole town."

"He was doing his duty, keeping peace in the world," she said.

Wiggins said Sheppard, like many young people from Quinton, would play pool at the store as a boy, and when the pool hall was turned into a restaurant, he would stop by for a bite to eat.

"He was a good kid -- a real good kid," she said. "You couldn't ask for anyone to be more polite. He was somebody you'd want to be around. He would come visit and tell me, 'Hey, I'm home again.' "

Bill Holt, Sheppard's high school history teacher, said he had just returned home from vacation Wednesday when he read about his former student's death.

"I couldn't believe it," Holt said. "I just asked one of his brothers about him the other day in driver's education."

Sheppard was a good student, he said.

"He seemed so honest," Holt added. "If you asked him something, he'd tell you the truth."

Sheppard's mother offered advice Wednesday for others who lose loved ones in the war.

"As hopeless and hard as it is, lean on the kindness and strength of your friends and family," she said. "That's the only way you're going to get through it."

Clifton Adcock 581-8367
clifton.adcock@tulsaworld.com