Warriors Walk additions
A Warriors Walk tree dedication will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow for two other fallen 3rd Infantry Division soldiers. The late Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur, 25, of Lake City, S.C., and Spc. Lakeshia M. Bailey, 23, of Columbus, will be honored. They died on March 8 north of Al Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll over. They were assigned to the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd ID, at Fort Benning. The addition of the memorial trees will bring the total number of Red bud trees on Warriors Walk to 426.
Two 3rd ID soldiers from Fort Stewart currently deployed to Iraq were killed April 7 in Mosul, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
The fallen were 1st Lt. Robert W. Collins, 24, of Tyrone and Pfc. William Anthony Blount, 21, of Petal, Miss.
Collins was a signal officer assigned to Bravo Company. He joined the Army in May 2008 and arrived at Fort Stewart in June 2009. This was his first deployment.
According to The Citizen newspaper in Fayette County, Collins was engaged. He graduated from Sandy Creek High School in 2004 and West Point Military Academy in 2008. Collins was also a member of American Legion Post 105 in Fayetteville.
According to The Citizen, Fayette County Sheriff Wayne Hannah publicly expressed his department’s sympathy to Collins’ family and requested the community and media be considerate and allow the family “to privately grieve.”
Blount, an infantryman, was also assigned to Bravo Company. He joined the Army in September 2008 and arrived at Fort Stewart in February 2009. Like Collins, this was Blount’s first deployment.
According to the Hattiesburg American in Hattiesburg, Miss., he was due home for a short leave next month for the birth of his first child. Blount’s wife, Amanda, is eight months pregnant with a daughter, to be named Amanda Elizabeth, according to WDAM TV in Hattiesburg. Blount is also survived by his parents, Billy and Kay Blount, and two sisters. Blount graduated from Petal High School in 2007. Blount’s father, Billy Blount, was quoted by the Hattiesburg American as saying his son loved baseball and the University of Southern Mississippi.
They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
The fallen were 1st Lt. Robert W. Collins, 24, of Tyrone and Pfc. William Anthony Blount, 21, of Petal, Miss.
Collins was a signal officer assigned to Bravo Company. He joined the Army in May 2008 and arrived at Fort Stewart in June 2009. This was his first deployment.
According to The Citizen newspaper in Fayette County, Collins was engaged. He graduated from Sandy Creek High School in 2004 and West Point Military Academy in 2008. Collins was also a member of American Legion Post 105 in Fayetteville.
According to The Citizen, Fayette County Sheriff Wayne Hannah publicly expressed his department’s sympathy to Collins’ family and requested the community and media be considerate and allow the family “to privately grieve.”
Blount, an infantryman, was also assigned to Bravo Company. He joined the Army in September 2008 and arrived at Fort Stewart in February 2009. Like Collins, this was Blount’s first deployment.
According to the Hattiesburg American in Hattiesburg, Miss., he was due home for a short leave next month for the birth of his first child. Blount’s wife, Amanda, is eight months pregnant with a daughter, to be named Amanda Elizabeth, according to WDAM TV in Hattiesburg. Blount is also survived by his parents, Billy and Kay Blount, and two sisters. Blount graduated from Petal High School in 2007. Blount’s father, Billy Blount, was quoted by the Hattiesburg American as saying his son loved baseball and the University of Southern Mississippi.