Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match.
This week Bruce told us about Army Sgt. Donald Ralph Walters. From the AP,
A year after he was buried, the Army honored Sgt. Donald Walters on Monday with the Silver Star for the actions in Iraq that cost him his life. Walters, 33, formerly of Kansas City, Mo., received the commendation posthumously during a ceremony at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, where he is buried. Walters was a member of the 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas, that was ambushed in southern Iraq on March 23, 2003.
Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, who served in Iraq as the commanding general of the Army’s V Corps, presented the Silver Star to Walters’ widow, Stacie, and his mother, Arlene Walters, who has sought a better accounting of her son’s death to reflect his actions. In the ambush, which occurred just days after the start of the war, 11 soldiers were killed and six captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was initially credited with putting up a fierce fight during the battle. Lynch has said she did not fire a shot during the ambush. Lynch was later rescued from an Iraqi hospital.
“The exact events during the ambush in Nasariyah will never be completely known but to God and by those who perished in the struggle,†Wallace said.
Walters, of Salem, Ore., had initially been awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Autopsy reports indicate he died of gunshot and two stab wounds to the abdomen. Wallace said Walters displayed a courage that reflected his gallantry to serve his country and fellow soldiers caught in the ambush.
His mother and U.S. Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., have sought an Army investigation to correct earlier reports that credited Lynch with holding off Iraqi troops. Walters, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, is also survived by three daughters.
The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here.
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On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.