Wednesday's Heroes

Welcome to this week's installment where all the member bloggers of "WednesdaysHero", found in my sidebar and theirs collectively honor many of the real hero's found in this country who's names and bio's have been provided to us for these humble tributes by blogroll creators Indian Chris @ Right Wing and Right Minded along with HooahWife.

Many of our soldiers are those that have paid the ultimate price for this country, protecting it both at home and abroad from the many threats we face from our enemies wishing us and them harm, and some are not.Ineither case they are the real American heroes of today and we now both salute and offer our prayers to both them and their loved ones.

To join us if you wish to please start by reading the post below.

1st LT. Frank B. Walkup, IV
23 years old from Woodbury, Tennessee
2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
June 16, 2007

Toni already has a great post up on her site, so I'll just link to it.

Here's the full Obituary from the Mursfreebury Post following his untimely death in Iraq in this past June:

Arrangements imcomplete for Lt. Frank Walkup IV

By: By Lisa Marchesoni - June 21, 2007 - 4:04 PM

Funeral arrangements are still incomplete for Riverdale High School 2001 graduate Frank B. Walkup IV who died Saturday in Iraq when he was on patrol searching for insurgents and stopped a suspicious convoy, said his father, Frank Walkup III of Woodbury.

Woodbury Funeral Home is handling arrangements which will probably be held the 4th of July with a service at the funeral home, a small memorial service at Woodbury United Methodist Church and burial at Riverside Cemetery in Woodbury.

Walkup was a platoon leader in the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry.

"He's a hero," his father said. "He did this well knowing what the consequences will be."

Walkup is survived by his wife, Sabita, father, stepmother, Mitzi, and eight brothers and sisters who live in Woodbury and his mother, Melissa Oaks of Memphis.

Walkup grew up as "military brat" and began wearing the Army uniform in ninth grade. He was a cadet in the ROTC program at Riverdale. After graduation, he attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he participated in ROTC. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant after graduation in 2005.

In the Army, Walkup was promoted to 1st lieutenant. He completed air assault school, airborne school and ranger school, making him ranger qualified. He was deployed to Iraq 10 months ago where he served as platoon leader. His tour was extended until October. He planned to make the military his career.

Walkup came from a long-term military family.

"We're very proud of him," the elder Walkup said. "He served very honorably."

At Riverdale, Walkup was a good student who academically scored in the top percentage of his class.

"He never got into any trouble," his father said. ""He was somebody his peers looked up to. He didn't bend to their wishes. He never did drugs and had no problems with the law."

Walkup had a happy attitude who didn't let hardship affect him.

"He had that winning attitude," his father said. "He tried to be a good leader."

His family lived in south Murfreesboro and attended St. Mark's United Methodist Church. They relocated to Woodbury and now attend Woodbury United Methodist Church.

Walkup said the Cannon County community, including his church and his children's baseball teams, has been so supportive since learning about his son's death.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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