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Gregory L Wahl |
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Salisbury, North Carolina |
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May 3, 2004 |
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| Died in Balad, Iraq, when their military vehicle left the road and flipped over in a canal. | ||||||||
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| Father: Prankster son grew up with marriage, military service Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — Gregory Wahl was a mischievous young man who often looked for trouble, but he found maturity with his marriage to a pretty Salvadoran woman and service in the military, his father said. Wahl, a 30-year-old sergeant, was one of four men killed in Iraq on May 3 when their vehicle ran off a road and flipped into a canal. All four were assigned to the 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Vilseck, Germany. The Wahl family was from Valley Stream, N.Y., but lived in Salisbury when Gregory Wahl was a teenager and he graduated from West Rowan High School, his father, Leonard, told The (Raleigh) News & Observer from his home in New York state. After graduating, Gregory Wahl moved back to New York, where he met his wife, Maricela. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to him,” his father said. “He saw the light and made a 360-degree turn around. He made his goals.” They briefly returned to Salisbury after their marriage, and it was there that Gregory Wahl joined the National Guard. They moved to upstate New York about a year later when he joined the regular Army. His job took Wahl across the globe, including missions in Kosovo and Bosnia, his father said. He had been based in Germany for several years. Still, he kept in touch with his father through regular phone calls. “He was my 4 o’clock alarm,” Leonard Wahl said. Maricela Wahl and the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Alexis, will accompany Wahl’s body back to the United States, Leonard Wahl said. |
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| From Times-News blueridgenow.com May 22, 2004 Mills River couple's grandson dies serving in Iraq Jennie Jones Giles Times-News Staff Writer The grandson of a Mills River couple died May 3 in Balad, Iraq, when his military vehicle left the road and overturned into a canal during a combat patrol. Army Sgt. Gregory L. Wahl, 30, was assigned to the 4th Calvary Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based out of Vilseck, Germany. He and three other soldiers died in the incident, which is under investigation. His maternal grandparents, Evelyn and John Bree, arrived back in Henderson County this week after attending their grandson's funeral in New York. "He just went to Iraq in January," Wahl's grandmother said. "They said his Humvee swerved off the road and they don't know why. It went over a bridge and into a canal. They were submerged. "He kept contact with us through his e-mails and called us once from Iraq," Mrs. Bree said. "He was proud of the role he played in Iraq and we are proud of him." At the funeral May 13 at Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Valley Stream, N.Y., where Wahl grew up, his wife, Maricela, held a cross as she walked behind the soldiers carrying her husband's coffin, draped with the American flag, according to an article in New York Newsday. Outside, two Valley Stream Fire Department ladder trucks held a much larger American flag as boys and girls from the Catholic school Wahl attended, lined the sidewalk. His burial was at Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn, N.Y., with full military honors. "There was a police and motorcycle escort from the church to the cemetery," Mrs. Bree said. Received Bronze Star Wahl received the Bronze Star for meritorious service, she said. A service for the soldiers who died in the incident was also held in Germany, Wahl's grandmother said, and a tribute will be held soon on the USS Intrepid in New York Harbor. Wahl moved to Salisbury when he was in his teens and was a graduate of West Rowan High School in Mount Ulla. He joined the Air National Guard and later enlisted in the Army. He served for 11 years, with two tours of duty in Kosovo. He was based at Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Drum, N.Y. "We got a lovely letter from Gov. Easley," Mrs. Bree said. The Brees are members of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Hendersonville, the Henderson County Gem and Mineral Society and the Henderson County Crafters Association. In addition to his grandparents and wife, Wahl is survived by his 4-year-old daughter, Alexis Eileen; his parents, Janis Bree Cramer of Houston, Texas, and Leonard Wahl of Long Island, N.Y.; and two brothers. |
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