THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL
Daytona Beach, Florida
Thursday, June 10, 2010Marine killed in Afghanistan was Flagler Palm Coast Grad
By Julie Murphy, Staff WriterMarine Sgt. Zachary J. Walters, 24, a 2005 Flagler Palm Coast High School graduate, died Tuesday after stepping on an explosive device in Afghanistan, a family member said.
"He graduated one day and was inducted into the Marines the next, on his 19th birthday," his grandmother Bobbie Walters said Wednesday by phone from her home in Irving, Texas.
Walters, whose family lived in Palm Coast until he left for the Marines, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
"I grew up around Camp Lejeune," said his fiancee Victoria Falcon from his grandmother's house. "I was a military brat and I've never seen a better Marine. He loved the Marines."
The sergeant served five years and decided to re-up for another four years, Bobbie Walters said. He left Texas on May 20 and celebrated his birthday on May 24.
"He was a great kid, a good man," she said. "He told me, 'Nana, I have a good job and good support. If something happens, I'll spend eternity with my Lord and savior.' "
That something happened about 5 a.m. Tuesday in Afghanistan's Helmand province, his grandmother said.
"He was sergeant of a platoon, and was on point," Walters said. "He stepped on an IED and died instantly -- I hope."
Details of his burial aren't final, but he will be buried in Texas, his grandmother said.
THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL
Daytona Beach, Florida
Thursday, June 17, 2010Sgt. Zachary J. Walters
Sgt. Zachary J. Walters, 2nd BN, 6th Marines (78th), 2nd Marine Division, passed away Tuesday, June 8, 2010 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was born May 24, 1986.
He was preceded in death by his uncle, Christopher Scott Walters.
He is survived by his parents, Kelly J. Walters of Irving, and Regina M. Walters of Decatur; grandparents, Joe and Bobbie Walters of Irving; grandmother, Lore Miner of Decatur; brother, Dwayne Patrick Adair of Decatur; aunts and uncles, Norma and Harvey Merritt of Alvarado, Nell and Al Berry of Mesquite, Ramona and Tony McCollough of Peculiar, Missouri, Rebecca and Mark Ireland of Alvord, Texas, and Tom and Ann Miner of Decatur; and numerous cousins. He also leaves behind his fiancé, Vickie L. Falcon of Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Memorial services will be held at 1 PM Friday, June 18, 2010 at Brown's Memorial Chapel. Inurnment services with Full Military Honors will follow at 3 PM at DFW National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, in Dallas.
His family requests donations to Wounded Warriors, PMB 48, Western Blvd., Suite E, Jacksonville, NC 28546.
