Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Throckmorton, 28, of Battle Creek was killed in Afghanistan on July 5, the Defense Department has announced.

The soldier’s wife, Leslie, said Throckmorton “was an amazing man. He loved his children to death. They were his world. His family meant everything to him.”

Leslie Throckmorton was speaking by phone, along with Joshua Throckmorton’s mother and father, at Dover Air Force Base, Del., awaiting the return of Throckmorton’s body.

Throckmorton, an honors student who graduated in 2001 from Battle Creek Central High School, had been stationed in Hohenfels, Germany and was deployed to Afghanistan in April. He also had served in Iraq.

“He was a soldier doing his job and he couldn’t wait to get home,” she said. “He was a great person. He was the best.”

The Army said Throckmorton and two other soldiers — Spc. Jordan C. Schumann, 24, of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., and Spc. Preston J. Suter, 22, of Sandy, Utah — died

in Paktia province when their unit was attacked by enemy forces with an improvised explosive device.

Former Battle Creek Central Principal Bruce Barney said Throckmorton was “a solid citizen and well liked. He was a pleasant individual and very respectful. I appreciated him being a part of the student body of Battle Creek Central High School.”

“He played sports and was a consummate team player,” Barney said, “and he would do anything to make the situation better.”

Central football coach Doug Bess said Throckmorton was one of 12 seniors on the 2000 Bearcat football team that started with a 1-3 record but played for the conference championship.

“He was an undersized center and only played at 170 pounds, which in our division was awfully small to play, but yet he was one of the leaders of the offensive line,” Bess said.

An assistant to coach Al Slamer that year, Bess said his own son was on the team.

“They weren’t best buddies but they were teammates and we were talking about Josh and he said, ‘Dad, he was just a really good guy.’ ”

“He worked his butt off in football. He was undersized but he would work his butt off against bigger kids.”

Bess said Throckmorton was one of the seniors who inspired the underclassmen and probably help mold teams which were undefeated the next two years.

“He was one of our leaders and he played hard. I don’t know of anyone who didn’t like Josh. It is just a tragedy.”

Proceeds from the SSG Joshua A. Throckmorton bracelet will be donated to Legacies Alive.