Article on Brian's Unit

Where Things Stand: Indiana Knows Sacrifice of War After Five Years
Soldiers Dispatched to Iraq Leave a Huge Hole in One Indiana Town

By CHRIS BURY and GLEN DACYMarch 18, 2008

This is a story that was on ABC news tonight that is about the 76th, Brian's unit. Click on the link below to read the story if you would like. It doesn't mention Brian, it would take a lot of room to mention all 3,400 members of that unit, but Terre Haute is mentioned along with other towns. They actually showed the interview with the lady from Terre Haute and showed some shots of downtown. It was a good news story. I watched it with Stephen and was able to tell him that is where Uncle Brian is and those may be some of the guys he works with. I was also able to tell him that they were showing part of where Grandma (and the rest of the family) lives. He knows that place fairly well since we have been there lots of times (imagine that) and now he is really old enough to remember everything.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4476397&page=1

My Baby is Growing Up

Just some thoughts on growing up. My "baby" will be ten this year. YIKES!!!! Where does the time go? He is a smart aleck too. Right after he turned nine last year, he told me "just think Mom, my next birthday I'll be ten and that is two numbers!" He loves to rub that in every chance he gets. I keep telling him that I am not old enough to have a child who is almost ten. It just cracks him up because he knows it gets my goat. Of course any of you who are Moms already know exactly what I am talking about. If there is anyone reading this who will soon be a Mom, you will find out soon enough what I am talking about. Of course, I still wouldn't trade it for the world.

Another Wedding!

Well, my sister Cheryl is engaged (again)! Congrats to her and her fiance Darren! We are all guessing that she will get married sometime in 2009. Of course, no date has actually been set yet, but when has a minor technicality like that ever stopped the rest of us from guessing! This will be her second marriage. MaryAnn got married last summer to Joey. Brian got married in 2005. Tom and Nenita got married in 2002. My sisters all keep telling me that it is my turn now. I have to admit that it is kind of odd that I am the oldest and I am still single. Also, even though I know that it is not what marriage is all about, I can't help being a little jealous of my sisters and my sisters-in-law and all their beautiful rings! :) Hey, I am a girl, I like jewelery! I keep telling anyone who mentions it that I don't have time to date right now. I am not ruling it out for the long haul though. If God wants it to happen, it will. After all, 34 is not quite doomsday anymore in today's society. The pictures at the very top of the page are from Brian and Bonnie's wedding in 2005. There is one of Bonnie and Brian, one during the ceremony, and one of Stephen and my niece (Cheryl's daughter - the only girl child in our motley bunch of kids by the way) holding hands at Brian's rehearsal. Those two still remain good friends whenever we go home for a visit. The other pictures above are a couple of pics from Ann's wedding. (I am not slighting Cheryl or Tom, I didn't have my digital camera yet when Cheryl got married and I have not had time to scan the hard copies to my computer, and Tom got married in Hawaii and I didn't know he was getting married until a week before the wedding and didn't have the money to go.) The one with the five of us is Brian, Cheryl, MaryAnn, Me and Tom. The one with the ladies is Cheryl, Bonnie (Brian's wife), MaryAnn, Nenita (Tom's wife) and me again. Of course, the one everyone is the whole wedding party. Well, seeing as how it is midnight here and I have to work in the morning I am going to go for now. Enjoy!

Hero Brother

Cpl. Brian Walton

Brian is a great father, husband, son, brother, uncle, friend, cousin and guardsman. This is his second tour of duty in Iraq. He is a good soldier and we are very proud of him. We pray that God will be with him, protect him, and bring him safely home to us again.

-- Submitted by Jean Walton, sister

Hello again! This is a thing I submitted on Indystar.com in their Spirit of the 76th section. It is a tribute space where you can submit greetings to soldiers overseas. For those of you who know my brother Brian, he should have arrived in Kuwait sometime today. He will be there for 2 - 3 weeks and then he will continue on to Iraq. He will be overseas for a year. Lots of prayers for his safe return please! This is his second tour of duty over there. Last time, he and my other brother, Tom, were over there at the same time for a while. They both (Thanks to God!) made it safely home that time. The picture above is actually from his wedding in 2005. I didn't have a picture of him in his uniform on my computer. (I have one from a while ago, I just didn't have it scanned into my computer.) Also prayers for his wife Bonnie; son Evan; stepsons Mathew, Michael and Joseph; and our Mom, RoseMary. All of the rest of us; Stephen and I; Cheryl and her kids, David, Chris, Michaela and Ryan; Tom and Nenita; and MaryAnn, Joey and Blake will miss him as well.