Hawaii Soldier Honored in Memorial Ceremony at Camp Virginia

CAMP VIRGINIA, KUWAIT

02.23.2009

Courtesy Story

29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait – Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team mourned one of their own, Spc. Cwislyn K. Walter, in a crowded memorial ceremony at Camp Virginia, Kuwait, Feb. 23.

The small camp chapel was filled to capacity as nearly six hundred Soldiers lined the walls to pay their final respects to their comrade. 29th Brigade Special Troops Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Moses Kaoiwi, Cpt. Shawn Naito, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Walter's unit, and fellow Soldiers, Spcs. Leticia Timothy and Michael Yamaguchi, all emphasized how significant it was that Walter became a United States citizen since being called to active duty in August 2008. They specifically noted how she spent countless hours studying for the citizenship test while the unit was completing mobilization training at Fort Hood, Texas prior to arriving in Kuwait. As they all expected she passed with flying colors.

Her dedication and drive to become a citizen is just one of the many examples of her exemplary performance.

"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 Kaoiwi. "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."

Kaoiwi was one of those to speak about Walter during the Memorial Ceremony.

Spc. Timothy said she personally found comfort in the fact that Cwislyn had shared her faith with her, and she believed that she was now in a better place. That faith was a theme to the ceremony, as 1st Lt. Ronaldo Pascua, chaplain, led the crowd in reciting the 23rd Psalm and reminded them that as Soldiers, they still had a duty to perform.

At the end of the ceremony, 1st Sgt. Christopher Tourtellot, the HHC 29th BSTB first sergeant, stood and called out the ceremonial final roll call. Three Soldiers answered, the final one did not.

It was hard to find a dry eye in the packed chapel, as those in attendance remembered the young Soldier and the contributions that she made to her unit.

Walter, 19, a National Guard Soldier from Honolulu, Hawaii, who deployed to Kuwait in October 2008, died as a result of injuries sustained in a single vehicle accident in Kuwait on Feb. 19.

• Date Taken: 02.23.2009
• Date Posted: 02.23.2009 17:43
• Story ID: 30347
• Location: CAMP VIRGINIA, KW