PFC Cwislyn K. Walter, 19, of Honolulu died Feb. 19 in Kuwait City, Kuwait,
of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.
She was assigned to the 29th Special Troops Battalion,
29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
of the Hawaii National Guard.
Dear PFC Cwislyn-
It was an honor to serve and support you while you were deployed.
When you were born, an angel smiled,
As you became a child, an angel sat on your shoulder
When you became a teen, an angel held your hand
As you went to war, an angel walked down the road with you,
And, when you died, another angel got their wings.
Big angel hugs!
Please write a note of support for her family-
http://www.legacy.com/News
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Updated at 3:45 p.m., Monday, February 23, 2009
Hawaii Guard soldier killed in accident remembered at memorial in Kuwait
Nearly 600 U.S. service members from all over Kuwait filled the small Camp Virginia chapel today to pay their last respects to Spc. Cwislyn K. Walter, 19, a Hawaii National Guard soldier who was killed on Thursday in a vehicle accident in Kuwait.
An upturned rifle topped by a helmet with Walter's combat boots and a photo were arrayed in the chapel for the traditional combat memorial for the 2007 Farrington graduate.
"In my 26 years of service, Spc. Walter ranks among the best that I have had the honor to have known and worked with," said Lt. Col. Moses Kaoiwi, commander of the 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Walter's unit. "She was young and motivated. She had initiative and produced quality work. She really had a positive impact on everyone in the battalion and brought the best out of everyone."
Spc. Lindsey Lafitaga, a close friend, said, "We had this look we'd give to each other, a wink of an eye, then bam! We'd start dancing and going crazy. We began as just friends, and became more than sisters. This road we started together, it will last forever and ever."
Three other Hawaii guardsmen were seriously injured in the single-vehicle accident on Seventh Ring Road outside Kuwait City, officials said.
The National Guard said one is in stable condition in a Kuwaiti hospital, one is in stable condition at the Camp Arifjan Medical Facility, and one is pending a return to duty.
Walter was a passenger in a sport utility vehicle on a trip from Camp Virginia to Camp Arifjan, according to officials. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Kuwait's roads are notoriously dangerous because of reckless behavior by civilian vehicles and accidents occur frequently.
Walter's family previously said they had no comment on the accident and asked for privacy. They said they were proud of their daughter's service to her country.
Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, public affairs officer for the Hawaii National Guard, said it was the unit's first fatality since deploying to the Middle East.
More than 1,700 Hawaii National Guard and reserve soldiers have been in Kuwait since October and November. The troops are expected back home in July.
Walter joined the Hawaii National Guard in April 2007 and completed her basic and advanced individual training in Fort Gordon, Ga., where she was trained as a signal support systems specialist, officials said.
She obtained follow on training at Fort Jackson, S.C., as a human resources specialist.
Walter's awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" Device, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon.
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Isle Guard unit pays tribute to Farrington grad
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 24, 2009
The 19-year-old Farrington High School graduate who was killed in Kuwait last week in a traffic accident spent countless hours last fall studying to become a naturalized citizen.
Cwislyn K. Walter:
She passed her citizenship
test just as her unit was
preparing to go to Kuwait
That is how her colleagues and her leaders remembered Spc. Cwislyn K. Walter at a memorial service yesterday in Camp Virginia in northern Kuwait where soldiers of the Hawaii Army National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team have been stationed since October.
The small camp chapel was filled to capacity with nearly 600 soldiers paying their final respects to their comrade. The traditional soldier's cross -- an inverted M-16 rifle adorned with Walter's helmet, boots and dog tags -- was placed at the altar along with a photograph of Walter.
Eulogizing the soldier were members of her unit, including Lt. Col. Moses Kaoiwi, 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion commander; Capt. Shawn Naito, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company; and her fellow soldiers Spcs. Leticia Timothy and Michael Yamaguchi. Walter was a human resources specialist assigned to the special troops battalion's headquarters company.
According to an Army release, the soldiers emphasized how significant it was that Walter became a U.S. citizen after being called to active duty in August along with 1,200 soldiers from the Hawaii Army National Guard and another 500 from the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry.
They specifically noted how she spent countless hours studying for the citizenship test while the unit was completing mobilization training at Fort Hood in Texas.
As they all expected, she passed with flying colors before her unit left for Kuwait.
Walter was born Oct. 8, 1989, in Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia and grew up in Guam.
Timothy said she personally found comfort in the fact that Walter had shared her faith with her, and she believed that she was now in a better place.
At the end of the ceremony, Sgt. Christopher Tourtellot, first sergeant of headquarters company, called the final roll call.
Three soldiers involved in the accident answered; one did not.
Walter was one of four soldiers riding in a midsize sport utility vehicle that rolled over while traveling from Camp Virginia south to Camp Arifjan on Thursday night.
Spc. Esther Cho, a network switching systems operator, was treated and released and has been assigned to the Warrior Return Unit at Camp Arifjan pending return to duty in a few weeks; Sgt. 1st Class Pelias Largo J. Espinosa, a fire support specialist, and Spc. Joyce Grande Guieb, a food service specialist, are at medical facilities in Kuwait awaiting transfer to a hospital in Germany.
The cause of the traffic accident is under investigation. No other vehicle is believed to have been involved. The SUV the four soldiers were in was found overturned at 7:30 p.m. outside Kuwait City.
Local memorial services are pending.
Walter is the 29th Brigade's second death since it was called to active duty.
