Sgt. Joseph Hunt

I suspect if you really wanted to know a good ol’ boy – a man who loved his family and country, his life and his kids, and generally just enjoyed being alive, you would do well to learn a bit about Joey Hunt.

Joey was a best friend, a protector of the innocent, a man of jokes, the all-around well-balanced, quiet guy who listened and took everything in, processing what he heard and moderating what he heard with what he knew. He was a thinker.

Then again, he could be a total goofball – the class clown and the go-to guy for a good laugh.

But his antics may not have been the first thing you noticed. Most recall a sheepish grin that he wore regardless of his personal struggles. They recall a man who did everything that was asked of him without question – who performed his tasks as a soldier without thought for himself.  Maybe he was simply an old soul, who knew what fate awaited him. Maybe he worried about how his two young boys would grow up without him.

The night before his death, he left his comrade’s bunk grinning from ear to ear with a copy of the Dukes of Hazzard in his hands. The next morning, on 22 AUG 2005, he borrowed a pair of knee pads before leaving the wire. His last hours played out in typical Joey Hunt fashion.  He never seemed to sweat the small stuff.

His belief that life didn’t have to be so complicated came through when he picked up a guitar. His favorite song was “Simple Man.” When he was on leave shortly before his death, he played the song for his father. He perfected it in the weeks that followed, but never had the opportunity to play it for anyone except for his fellow soldiers.

Maybe that is by design. He lived simply and with pride. Today, the song remains to his parents – and fellow soldiers – as one of many reminders of a life lived as such – albeit cut short – and a call for us to live simply and fully as well.