thedrifter
11-26-07, 07:36 AM
Nov 26, 2007
FALLEN WARRIOR: Marine loved to be close to his family
By Jane Self
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
Six months ago, on May 26, Jerry Walsh was driving down his street in Fort Collins, Colo., heading home from his son Ian’s high school graduation. He saw a young man walking down the street who looked from the back like his older son Nick had looked a few years earlier.
“I got beside him and looked over, and he looked exactly like Nick at 18 years old. He looked over at me — Nick had a particular look, a lopsided grin that was all his own. — and with that Nick grin, he gave me a little wave,” Jerry Walsh said.
He saw that his wife was still sitting in her car in their driveway, so he went up to the window to tell her he had seen their son.
“I looked at her. She had the phone in her ear and there were tears streaming down her face. I said, ‘Nick’s dead, isn’t he?’ She said yes. She was talking to his wife, Julie, on the phone, and Julie had just told her Nick was killed in Iraq. I looked up, and the kid was gone. Nick had come by to tell me good-bye. I wish I had stopped and talked to him. But a wave was good enough.”
That sighting has helped Jerry Walsh deal with the devastating loss. A few months later, Maggie Walsh, who had raised Nick since he was 6 and she married his father, dreamed about Nick. He told her he was fine and they all would be, to
The Walshes moved to Alabama in the early 1990s, first to Anniston, then to Birmingham, where Nick Walsh graduated from John Carroll Catholic High School in 1998. He was born in Georgia, then lived for awhile in Texas, New Mexico and Canada. The family moved a lot because of Jerry Walsh’s career with the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Jerry Walsh said his son loved outdoors activities, particularly wandering around the New Mexico desert on a motorcycle and shooting at targets with his dad.
“My father, a retired Marine, was a world champion shooter, and Nick was interested in shooting for the Marine Corps eventually,” Jerry Walsh said.
Nick Walsh joined the Marines right after high school.
“We discussed it with him,” Jerry Walsh said. “Of course, we encouraged him to pursue his education first. But he wasn’t ready to settle down and go to college yet. And it was his decision to make.”
Maggie Walsh said she first met Nick when she was dating his father in New Mexico. She made a kite for the little boy she was nervous about meeting.
“We went out into the desert to a hill that had good wind and spent a couple of hours flying the kite, which he really loved. Then we piled into the pickup truck, and Nick made sure he sat between us,” she said.
“On the way back into town, he fell asleep holding my hand with his head on my shoulder. And I knew right then we could make a go of it. And we did. He was a great kid.”
She said he also was a wonderful big brother to the children she and Jerry Walsh had, Ian, Flynn and Fiona.
“When Ian was born, Nick was 8 and he loved that baby. He loved having a baby brother. He would come home from school, have a snack and sit on the couch to do his reading assignment with the baby on his lap. He just wanted the baby close to him.
“We had a happy family that went from Jerry and Nick being on their own to me coming into the picture and then the boys. Then Fiona was a big bonus. Family was very important to him.”
Ian and Flynn were best men at their big brother’s wedding, and they wrote the eulogy for his funeral. Ian talked about how his brother was his hero long before he joined the Marines. He was a hero for building a fort in the backyard and for baby-sitting him. Flynn talked about how Nick would be telling them to just get over it and get on with their lives.
Nick Walsh met his wife when he was at Camp Lejeune during his first enlistment. She was working the bar at a Marine Corps ball. He left the service for a couple of years and stayed home with their first son, Triston, while she was in nursing school in Illinois. Then he re-enlisted in the Marines and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California where their son Tanner was born.
His first deployment to Iraq ended in the summer of 2006 and he was two months into his second deployment when he was killed on May 26 by a sniper.
Julie Walsh told The Associated Press that her husband had called her before he went out on patrol that morning.
“He said he just felt the need to call me. We got to talk for about 20 minutes, and he said he loved me and the boys,” she said. “He said he would call me that night, but he never did.”
Jerry Walsh said that when he took his 4-year-old grandson into the funeral home to view his father, Triston asked him to please make his daddy talk to him.
“Of course, I told him I couldn’t do that and I explained what the problem was,” Jerry Walsh said. “He understands now his father is in heaven looking down on him. At the time, he didn’t understand at all what the problem was.”
At the end of October, the Walshes went to Pendleton for a memorial service with Nick Walsh’s unit that had just returned from Iraq.
“It was a really wonderful way to close the loop a little bit,” Maggie Walsh said. “We know what Nick was like as a son, as a father and a husband. But we didn’t know what he was like in the Marines. We didn’t see that. These guys gave us a glimpse into his real heroics and how much they enjoyed being with him. They all said he would make it fun even when it was horrible. He never complained. He always had something funny to say.
“It was just a gift to us to hear them say that he made a difference in their lives, too. It makes us feel better about everything.”
Reach Jane Self at jane@janeself.com or at 205-633-0932.
Ellie
FALLEN WARRIOR: Marine loved to be close to his family
By Jane Self
Special to The Tuscaloosa News
Six months ago, on May 26, Jerry Walsh was driving down his street in Fort Collins, Colo., heading home from his son Ian’s high school graduation. He saw a young man walking down the street who looked from the back like his older son Nick had looked a few years earlier.
“I got beside him and looked over, and he looked exactly like Nick at 18 years old. He looked over at me — Nick had a particular look, a lopsided grin that was all his own. — and with that Nick grin, he gave me a little wave,” Jerry Walsh said.
He saw that his wife was still sitting in her car in their driveway, so he went up to the window to tell her he had seen their son.
“I looked at her. She had the phone in her ear and there were tears streaming down her face. I said, ‘Nick’s dead, isn’t he?’ She said yes. She was talking to his wife, Julie, on the phone, and Julie had just told her Nick was killed in Iraq. I looked up, and the kid was gone. Nick had come by to tell me good-bye. I wish I had stopped and talked to him. But a wave was good enough.”
That sighting has helped Jerry Walsh deal with the devastating loss. A few months later, Maggie Walsh, who had raised Nick since he was 6 and she married his father, dreamed about Nick. He told her he was fine and they all would be, to
The Walshes moved to Alabama in the early 1990s, first to Anniston, then to Birmingham, where Nick Walsh graduated from John Carroll Catholic High School in 1998. He was born in Georgia, then lived for awhile in Texas, New Mexico and Canada. The family moved a lot because of Jerry Walsh’s career with the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Jerry Walsh said his son loved outdoors activities, particularly wandering around the New Mexico desert on a motorcycle and shooting at targets with his dad.
“My father, a retired Marine, was a world champion shooter, and Nick was interested in shooting for the Marine Corps eventually,” Jerry Walsh said.
Nick Walsh joined the Marines right after high school.
“We discussed it with him,” Jerry Walsh said. “Of course, we encouraged him to pursue his education first. But he wasn’t ready to settle down and go to college yet. And it was his decision to make.”
Maggie Walsh said she first met Nick when she was dating his father in New Mexico. She made a kite for the little boy she was nervous about meeting.
“We went out into the desert to a hill that had good wind and spent a couple of hours flying the kite, which he really loved. Then we piled into the pickup truck, and Nick made sure he sat between us,” she said.
“On the way back into town, he fell asleep holding my hand with his head on my shoulder. And I knew right then we could make a go of it. And we did. He was a great kid.”
She said he also was a wonderful big brother to the children she and Jerry Walsh had, Ian, Flynn and Fiona.
“When Ian was born, Nick was 8 and he loved that baby. He loved having a baby brother. He would come home from school, have a snack and sit on the couch to do his reading assignment with the baby on his lap. He just wanted the baby close to him.
“We had a happy family that went from Jerry and Nick being on their own to me coming into the picture and then the boys. Then Fiona was a big bonus. Family was very important to him.”
Ian and Flynn were best men at their big brother’s wedding, and they wrote the eulogy for his funeral. Ian talked about how his brother was his hero long before he joined the Marines. He was a hero for building a fort in the backyard and for baby-sitting him. Flynn talked about how Nick would be telling them to just get over it and get on with their lives.
Nick Walsh met his wife when he was at Camp Lejeune during his first enlistment. She was working the bar at a Marine Corps ball. He left the service for a couple of years and stayed home with their first son, Triston, while she was in nursing school in Illinois. Then he re-enlisted in the Marines and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California where their son Tanner was born.
His first deployment to Iraq ended in the summer of 2006 and he was two months into his second deployment when he was killed on May 26 by a sniper.
Julie Walsh told The Associated Press that her husband had called her before he went out on patrol that morning.
“He said he just felt the need to call me. We got to talk for about 20 minutes, and he said he loved me and the boys,” she said. “He said he would call me that night, but he never did.”
Jerry Walsh said that when he took his 4-year-old grandson into the funeral home to view his father, Triston asked him to please make his daddy talk to him.
“Of course, I told him I couldn’t do that and I explained what the problem was,” Jerry Walsh said. “He understands now his father is in heaven looking down on him. At the time, he didn’t understand at all what the problem was.”
At the end of October, the Walshes went to Pendleton for a memorial service with Nick Walsh’s unit that had just returned from Iraq.
“It was a really wonderful way to close the loop a little bit,” Maggie Walsh said. “We know what Nick was like as a son, as a father and a husband. But we didn’t know what he was like in the Marines. We didn’t see that. These guys gave us a glimpse into his real heroics and how much they enjoyed being with him. They all said he would make it fun even when it was horrible. He never complained. He always had something funny to say.
“It was just a gift to us to hear them say that he made a difference in their lives, too. It makes us feel better about everything.”
Reach Jane Self at jane@janeself.com or at 205-633-0932.
Ellie