My Hero

This month my brother, Sgt. Randy S. Walters, US Army, will end his second tour in Iraq as an EOD. I don't have the vocabulary to express how proud I am of this guy, and how much I admire the work he does every day. For those who are not familiar with EODs, here is how the Army describes the duties of an EOD:

• Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Soldiers are the Army's preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts. They are Warriors who are properly trained, equipped, and integrated to attack, defeat, and exploit unexploded ordnance (UXO), improvised explosive devices (IED), chemical, biological, and nuclear ordnance and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). EOD Warriors are the culmination of the best tactical and technical training the Army and civilian academia can provide.
• They are prepared to perform missions in support of Army units worldwide, across all operational environments. EOD Specialists perform duties locating, identifying, rendering safe and disposing of foreign and domestic conventional, biological, chemical, or nuclear ordnance and IEDs; WMDs and large vehicle bombs
• They conduct intelligence gathering operations on first seen ordnance and IEDs, and support very important persons (VIP) missions for the U.S. Secret Service, State Department and other Federal agencies. Some of your duties as an EOD Specialist may include:
• Research and identify ordnance using EOD technical publications
• Explosively disposing of hazardous ordnance
• Prepare and maintain EOD tools, equipment and vehicles
• Assist in the preparation and use of advance robotics
• Assist the EOD Team Leader in performing all actions required to safely mitigate ordnance explosive hazards
• Assist in the training of Soldiers in IED awareness

Wow, can you see why I'm so proud!! It's a dangerous job, to say the least. Though highly decorated from his service, he rarely discusses the accomplishments of his unit, and never discusses personal success. When we ask about the decorations and medals on his uniform he replies "Just doing my job". He is humble, committed, honorable, and brave.

When our Dad passed away suddenly a few months ago, our first thought as a family was how to get the news to Randy, so far from home. Dad and Randy happened to share a phone call earlier that same day. It was devastating to deliver the sad news to Randy later that night. I am so grateful to all the organizations that worked so quickly and made it possible to bring Randy from Iraq to Utah within 48 hours. Amazing! We were sad to see Randy go back to Iraq after a few short weeks of leave, but enjoyed all the time we got to spend together. We have since been counting the months, weeks and now DAYS before we will see him again.

This coming week, Randy will celebrate a birthday in Iraq for the third time (and he's only 24). Best of birthday wishes! I don't know if it will top this day (i'm sure he'll LOVE me posting this one)...

Randy - we can't wait to see you soon!