A North Suncoast man who served with the National Guard in Kuwait collapsed and died Sunday while on a training run.
Spc. Dennis Joel Boles, 46, born on Independence Day in 1958, was a power-train repairman assigned to the Florida Army National Guard's Company C, 1st Battalion 171st Aviation Regiment, out of Brooksville.
He provided heavy maintenance on helicopters for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Boles was taking part in a road march with other unit members and collapsed upon completion of the fitness training, according to a Florida National Guard press release.
Boles graduated from Crystal River High School in 1978. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1980 until 1988 and served in the Florida National Guard in the early 1990s. Following an 11-year break in service, he rejoined the Florida National Guard in 2003.
Boles was mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in Brooksville on Dec. 18, 2003. The unit arrived at Fort Stewart, Ga., in January and later shipped out to Kuwait.
As a civilian, Boles lived in Homosassa, where he was a commercial painter and played with a local rock band, Mid Life Crisis.
A military burial is scheduled for Saturday at Bushnell National Cemetery.
