Maryland's Thirty-Fifth Hero

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Marine Cpl. Joshua D. Snyder, 20, of Hampstead, Md.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Nov. 30 of wounds sustained from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq.

HE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP

A 2002 graduate of Hereford High School in northern Baltimore County, Snyder was the second alumnus of the school to die in Iraq in five weeks, said Steve Turnbaugh, the football coach at Hereford.

Snyder, who played football, was a teammate of Marine Lance Cpl. Norman Anderson III, of Parkton, who died Oct. 19 from a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Karabilah, Iraq. The men had been roommates at boot camp.

“It’s been very tough on the guys that he graduated with. We have a very close-knit football family, and it’s been hard on the football players, both past and present,” Turnbaugh said.

Turnbaugh recalled that Snyder had been injured for most of his senior year on the team and took on the role of a student coach.

“He was always willing to help anybody do anything,” Turnbaugh said.