Walters Jr., Richard A.

Richard A. Walters Jr.

Cleveland, Ohio

Feather Location: Row M, #08

By Bill Benedict, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer, on August 18, 2009 at 8:51 PM, updated August 18, 2009

PARMA -- Richard Allyn Walters Jr., corpsman, soldier and nurse, returned to the military and the Middle East to finish a job he had helped to start in Desert Storm.  He spent his first five years in Parma. His pregnant wife and their 11-month-old daughter moved there earlier this month to live near many of his relatives. The Walters' second daughter, to be named Piper, is due in December.

In 2006, Walters was too old to rejoin the Navy, so he enlisted in the Army instead. He became a licensed practical nurse and hoped to become a registered nurse and a physician assistant. "He always had the feeling in Iraq the first time that the job was never finished," his brother, Greg, said Tuesday. "He was going to work in a humanitarian effort."

He was raised mostly in Tiffin and graduated from Columbian High School there. A naval technician's son, he became a member of the Naval Reserves at age 17 and a regular from age 20 to 30.  He had a couple of close calls as a medic tending Marines in Desert Storm. He once left a Humvee just before a bullet lodged in the speedometer. Then Walters spent 10 years in civilian jobs around the country, partly with a family business in Tiffin.

Back in the military, he served in the intensive care unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, tending wounded soldiers. He later joined the 14th Combat Support Hospital in Fort Benning, Ga. His unit went to Iraq in July, but he got permission to stay in North Port, Fla., at the bedside of his father, who died July 9. The son was heading back to the unit on Aug. 10.

Walters' many honors include a QUEST award (Quality, Understanding, Excellence, Safety and Teamwork) from Walter Reed. On the side, he liked to camp, shoot pool and play acoustic guitar.

Carver:  Ray Myers, Fremont Ohio           

Wood:  Butternut