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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - Saturday, September 28, 2013, was a day of honor and remembrance for one of Pike County’s own: LCPL Jeffrey Walker was a 2004 Pike County Graduate who joined the Marine Corps and was serving his second tour of duty when he was killed in action in Al Anbar, Iraq in 2007. The Pike County Board of Education and American Legion Pike Post 197 joined together to dedicate the Pike County Alternative School and Annex as the Pike County Memorial Annex Building to the fallen heroes of Pike County with a special dedication of a memorial to LCPL Jeffrey Walker.
The American Legion Pike Post 197, Sons of the American Legion Squadron 197, and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 197 honored LCPL Jeffrey Walker, who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The Pike County Sheriff’s Office Color Guard and The Marine Corps League Honor Guard out of Griffin, Mrs. Christen Colwell, and Dr. Michael Duncan, Superintendent of the Pike County School System participated in this very moving ceremony. And the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, members of various positions in school and county government, and many from the community also came out to support friends and family of LCPL Jeffrey Walker.
The plaque for the Pike County Memorial Annex Building reads, “All Gave Some, Some Gave All” and was donated by the American Legion Pike Post 197 during the memorial ceremony on Saturday. Dr. Duncan said during his remarks that it was appropriate that the memorial was made possible by the public school system “where it has been the central calling of public education since its inception over a century ago to indicate a collective responsibility for all Americans to maintain sovereignty of the republic, promote one another, protect one another from tyranny, and provide for the safety of our neighbors so we each may answer the call of freedom’s ring.”
Major General James Kessler, USMC was the Guest Speaker and gave the tribute for LCPL Jeffrey Walker in this ceremony. He said that it is events like this one that occur around the country that help to ensure that the sacrifices of so many brave American heroes are never forgotten. “We will never forget,” he said.
Kessler praised Jeffrey Walker for his courage to serve our nation and told the audience that Jeffrey had a reputation of helping in any way that he could. Kessler told how Jeffrey was part of a group that was delivering water to the people that desperately needed it in May of 2007 and how this one small action was “a cog in the wheel” that changed the course of the war because it was just after this that “The Awakening” occurred when twelve influential sheikhs decided that Americans were not the enemy and Al Qaeda was. Kessler said that Jeffrey put his life on the line delivering water to people that he didn’t know and that this selfless act made a difference in Anbar Province.
Prior to the delivery of water to the people, there were 21 rockets attacks inside his compound at Al Taqaddum. After The Awakening, there were none. “We will never know how many lives… were saved by acts such as Jeff’s that helped us to achieve that major turning point in Al Anbar Province.” Kessler also noted that he chose LCPL Jeffrey Walker to represent all those lost in Iraq by naming the chapel in Al Taqaddum: The Walker Memorial Chapel. Click here to read more about the Chapel.
He closed out the tribute with John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Kessler said that while this ceremony was a painful reminder of the loss of a family member and member of this community, he urged it to also be a celebration of a man who made an “immeasurable difference in this world”.
TAPS was played. There was a 21 gun salute in honor of LCPL Jeffrey Walker after which Sr. Vice Commandant Roy Williams of the Marine Corps League presented Jeffrey's Mom, Teresa Rutledge, with brass from the salute. Commander Billy Payton Sr. closed out the ceremony with a line from President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
I did my duty,
I paid the supreme price.
I pray you’ll remember,
My sacrifice.
My life was short,
I did my best.
God grant me peace
In my eternal rest.
This quote above is from a picture that is located inside of the memorial to LCPL Jeffrey Walker along with a picture of Jeffrey from Iraq, a picture of Jeffrey holding his son Conner, an American flag, and the Battlefield Cross with helmet, boots, and inverted rifle as a tribute to fallen comrade.
Col. Patrick Kelleher USMC, Retired, was Jeffrey's battalion commander in Iraq. He praised LCPL Jeffrey Walker's dedication in Iraq. “I am honored to be here to remember his sacrifice and proud to have had him as a member of my battalion,” said Kelleher. “It was a very challenging time in Iraq and Jeff stepped up every day and did his duty with pride and dedication.”
“I am deeply honored and humbled to have been able to be a part of this important dedication ceremony to remember and celebrate the life of L. Corp. Jeffrey D. Walker. I think it’s really important that communities continue to sort of rally around the families in particular of those that we’ve lost because it’s important that we never forget the sacrifices that they’ve made,” said Major General James A. Kessler, USMC, Retired. Click here to read more about Maj. Gen. Kessler.
Chaplain Ben Maxedon advised that while the memorial for LCPL Jeffrey Walker is complete, the entire memorial is not finished. When this memorial is completed, there will be a mural on the wall behind behind the memorial to commemorate fallen heroes from Pike County. Contributions can be sent to: Pike Post 197, PO Box 781, Zebulon, GA 30295.
Click here to read about the fundraiser that funded today's the memorial for LCPL Jeffrey Walker that is shown in these pictures.
More photos are available at Picasa to see more photos. These photos are available for download on the honor system. Please send your donation to: Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon GA 30295.
Photo courtesy of Peggi Payton.
