Joey Eischen was home on medical leave from the army last Christmas Eve when his older brother Nick, died in Afghanistan, of an apparent heart defect. Because of his brother's death, the army let Joey leave the service early.
Pastor Tim Rolen became close to Joey after his brother's death and said Joey had a lot to deal with. "So, he was very discouraged, you know even though he was kind of relieved to be released from his military duty that was also a desire he had, and that was a job, so, you lose a sibling, you lose your employment, your coming back home, you lose your employment, that's a lot of stress for a 23 year old young man," said Pastor Rolen.
The Coroner's Office has not released a cause of death, but Clovis Police responded to a 911 call at a Clovis home and found Joey unconscious. "As a result of the consequences of a long night out, and don't know what all was involved yet, but, he just, he never woke up," said Rolen.
Joey Eischen was a 2004 graduate. He was a friend and classmate of Nathan Hubbard, who was killed in Iraq in August of last year. Nathan's older brother Jared was killed in Iraq earlier along with his buddy Jeremiah Baro.
Many of the young people who mourned the Hubbard's, Baro, Nick Eischen, and the other Buchanan grads who died in Iraq will be hit hard by this latest death. "These are the same class or siblings. You know these are brothers and sisters to each other. This is a period of years that covers five or six years, and, they were either best friends or the brothers of sisters of best friends. It's just not a good time," said Rolen.
Pastor Rolen said the Eischen family is grieving the loss of a second son in just three months on Thursday night. Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced Friday.
