1ST A.V. CASUALTY IN IRAQ U.S. MARINE WAS FROM LANCASTER.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - Family and friends remembered Allan Walker as strong, determined, considerate. And they said he loved being a Marine: training recruits as a drill instructor, leading an infantry unit. ``He took a great deal of satisfaction in all the things he had done,'' his mother, Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress in stage, screen, and television. Career Born Anna Myrtle Swoyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1922 (although some sources have cited 1921), she held a life-long feeling of , said Thursday. Walker, a 28-year-old staff sergeant staff sergeant n. 1. a. Abbr. SSG A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. Army that is above sergeant and below sergeant first class. b. Abbr. SSgt A noncommissioned rank in the U.S. at Camp Pendleton, died leading an infantry unit in the ``Sunni Triangle'' city of Ramadi, where a dozen Marines died Tuesday in combat. Walker, a 1993 Highland High School Highland High School or Highlands High School may refer to: In the United States:
The Antelope Valley serviceman killed in combat in Iraq. He was single, had no children and was a Marine for nearly 10 years. He spent the last two years as a drill instructor, training recruits, before he transferred to a combat unit in January and in February shipped out to Iraq with the First Marine Expeditionary Force The largest Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) and the Marine Corps principal warfighting organization, particularly for larger crises or contingencies. It is task-organized around a permanent command element and normally contains one or more Marine divisions, Marine aircraft wings, and . Walker had been an offensive lineman on Highland's football team, competed on Highland's wrestling team, and also acted and worked behind the stage in school plays, playing a lead role in his senior year. Walker had considered going to Whittier College The liberal arts university was founded in 1887 by members of the Religious Society of Friends, who named it after Friends (Quaker) poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Student athletes at Whittier College are known today as the Poets in his honor. after high school, but he instead joined the Marines and decided to make it his career, friends and family said. ``He loved it. He loved it,'' said boyhood friend Leonard Piontkowski, who knew Walker since 7th grade. ``He was going to put in his 20 years.'' Walker's mother said her son enjoyed the physicality of Marine life and was proud he was one of the small percentage of Marines who qualified to become drill instructors. He liked rugby, Irish music and punk rock, his father, Kenneth Walker Kenneth Newton Walker was one of the earliest avatiors in the United States Military and went on to win the nations highest award, the Medal of Honor during World War II Biography Kenneth Newton Walker was born in Cerrillos, N.M., in 1898. , said. He played rugby while stationed at 29 Palms and wanted to be stationed in England so he could play on the Marine rugby team there. He was also considerate, his mother said, recalling how as a high school senior he had organized classmates Classmates can refer to either:
``Sometimes he just had to do something for somebody,'' his mother said. Walker was one of 14,000 Camp Pendleton Marines who deployed in January and February to Iraq, where many had fought during last year's invasion. The Pendleton Marines make up more than one-tenth of the 125,000 American military personnel in Iraq. Since Sunday - when demonstrations to protest the closing of the al-Hawza newspaper and the arrest of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's lieutenant, Mustafa Yacoubi, turned violent in Najaf and Baghdad - 16 men from Pendleton have been identified as killed in action in Iraq. Nine of those killed Tuesday were from Walker's 2nd Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment, based at Pendleton. Walker's family has not been told the details of what happened. The Marine Corps said the 2nd Battalion men died in Al-Anbar province, whose capital of Ramadi broke out into fierce fighting Tuesday between Iraqis and American Marines and soldiers. ``Marines and Army forces were operating near the government building when there was a number of disturbances that broke out. There were a series of firefights that went on for a long period of time,'' Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt Mark T. Kimmitt (born 21 June 1954), formerly a Brigadier General in the United States Army, is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East. told reporters Wednesday. Funeral services are expected to be held at First Presbyterian Church First Presbyterian Church is a generic church name, and can refer to hundreds of churches within the English speaking world. If you followed a link here, please consider making it more specific by including the city or town in which the church resides. in Lancaster. No date has been set, but it is expected to be in seven to 10 days, or possibly longer. Mumaw Funeral Home in Lancaster will be in charge of arrangements. Walker's survivors include his father and stepmother, Kenneth and P.J. Walker of Palmdale; mother, Nancy Crowe Walker of Lancaster; sister Lara Walker; grandmothers Ruth Crowe and Jamie Walker Jamie Ross Walker (born July 1, 1971, in McMinnville, Tennessee) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher who currently plays for the Baltimore Orioles. He had previously pitched for the Detroit Tigers. He has a career ERA of 3.95. ; and stepsisters Leslie Montesdeoca and Jamie Doucette. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color -- ran in AV and SAC edition only) Nancy Walker of Lancaster holds a photograph of her son, Marine Staff Sgt. Allan Walker, 28, one of the six Marines killed in action Tuesday in Iraq. Walker's regiment was based at Camp Pendleton. He is the first Antelope Valley serviceman to be lost in combat in Iraq. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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