Former BF man killed in Afghanistan

A former Bonners Ferry man, with a wife and 2-year-old daughter, was among eight killed Saturday when his military unit came under fire in Afghanistan.

The body of Joshua Kirk, 30, was returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday, where family planned to be. Kirk’s aunt, Barbara LePoidevin, heard the funeral is expected to be held back East.

Josh Kirk was among eight soldiers from Fort Carson in Colorado who came under fire by as many as 200 insurgents at the outposts in Nuristan province, according to a published report. It was the deadliest fighting seen by Fort Carson soldiers since Vietnam and the largest loss of life for the post in single battle in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Born in Thomaston, Maine, Kirk was the son of Bernadette Kirk Bonner and the late John Kirk. Josh Kirk was the fourth oldest of six children. His siblings are Jennifer and Josiah Kirk, and Jocelyn Fulton, all of Bonners Ferry; Johnna Sohner of Florida; and Jessica Tingley of Newport News, Va.

LePoidevin said the family moved to Bonners Ferry in 1983. She believes Josh Kirk left Bonners Ferry when he was about 19 to 20 years old. He worked at Les Schwab in Bonners Ferry before leaving the area and going to Maine, where he worked as a carpenter.

Josh Kirk and his wife, Megan, lived Colorado Springs, Colo., with their daughter, Kennsington, at the time of his death. They were stationed in Germany prior to moving to Colorado.

Former Bonners Ferry resident Mike Fessler was good friends with Kirk.

“I’ve known Josh since 1977. He was my roommate and we started rock climbing together,” said Fessler, who lives in Yuma, Ariz., where he works for the U.S. Border Patrol.

“He was just really outgoing and everything he did, he just excelled in,” Fessler said. “Everything he did, he did well at.”