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July 4th 2007
Services for
1st Lt. Frank B. Walkup, IV
of Woodbury, Tennessee.

1st Lt. Frank B. Walkup, IV

June 19, 1983 - June 16, 2007

Visitation and Services: Funeral services were held at the Woodbury Church of Christ at 10 am, Wed., July 4th with Bro. Shane Peyton officiating. Full Military honors will follow in the Riverside Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be from 1 - 4 pm and from 6 - 8 pm Tues., July 3 at Woodbury Funeral Home. For those wishing to do so, donations may be made to the Woodbury Funeral Home for the family to donate to the Cannon Co. High School Athletic Assoc.

Obituary: Frank was born in Memphis, Tn. on June 19, 1983 and died in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Sat., June 16 from injuries sustained in Rashaad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Div., Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He is survived by his wife, Sabita Maharaj Walkup; Parents, Frank & Mitzi Walkup of Woodbury and Melissa Oaks of Memphis; 9 Siblings, Franz, Mitch, Kevin, Nina, Andy, Emily, Jake, Josh, & Taylor; Grandparents, Frank & Joyce Walkup, Faye Burdine, Claude & Audrey Barron, Glenda Knight, & Bobby R. White; Great grandparents, Frank B. & Kathleen Mitchell, and Ruth Walkup. He was a 1st Lt. in United States Army Infantry where he was trained as Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger qualified. He was commissioned as 2nd Lt. on May 5, 2005, the day he graudated from UT Knoxville. He was also a graduate of Riverdale High School, and a member of the Woodbury 1st United Methodist Church.

Woodbury Funeral Home
http://www.woodburyfuneralhome.net/
504 W. Main St.
Woodbury, TN 37190
615-563-2311

Iraqi Freedom Claims the Life of a Woodbury Soldier

"The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. 1st LT Frank B. Walkup, IV, 23, of Woodbury, Tenn., died June 16 in Kirkuk, Iraq, from injuries sustained in Rashaad Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position during dismounted operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii."

That was the official offering of the Army about the death of First Lieutenant (1st. Lt.) Frank Walkup IV, but it is not that simple to the family of the Lieutenant who lives on New Street here in Woodbury. His father says that the family learned of his death late Saturday night by two representatives from Fort Campbell. His father who is a former Army Sergeant with the Rangers has always known of the danger a soldier is subjected to. But still he has now experienced what most of the civilian population will never have to do and that is give up his son to the cause of world peace. The senior Walkup told me that his whole ancestry was military; father's grandfather's uncles and even great-grandfathers. He said his son Frank grew up in the shadow of a "grunt sergeant" all of his life and always considered the military a way of life. Besides his father he leaves his mother and eight siblings and a wife of less than two years. Lt. Walkup was to have turned 24 three days after his death.

As the father explained it his son and his crew were on patrol in Kirkuk in a Humvee when they saw something suspicious and Frank (LT.) exited the vehicle and approached the object. It was then remotely detonated fatally wounding the Lt. The remainder of his command was not injured; the standard chain of command would call for the Lt. to send one of the subordinates, however the senior Walkup said that his son was a true leader and it was not below him to do that job himself. Lt. Walkup had been in country for ten months and in that time period he had lost 12 members of his platoon and had three Hummers blown out from under him. His father said that losing those men was very hard on his son; he was close to his men. The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was not on the side of the road as are many because it was inside the confines of a town or village and the insurgents have to be close to detonate it, unlike running over a switch with a vehicle which would activate the bomb.

A statement was found on the internet labeled Patriot Forums from the second in command of the platoon that Walkup led, Sergeant First Class (SFC) Christopher Noell tells of the relationship of 1st Lt. Frank Walkup; it reads in full. "1st Lt. Walkup was my platoon leader. The loss of 1st Lt. Walkup can be felt from the newest Private to the oldest Soldier. He impacted everyone he came in contact with. His excitement for life and the love of it will be missed. I sit here just not fully understanding why he was taken; he had everything going for him. A loving family and wife, a bright future. His dreams were to have a construction company, something small that he could operate with his father, Big Frank. 1st Lt. Walkup, or Spartan-6 as he was called; and I, early on swore always to take point no matter what. We would be Leaders, leading from the front and never letting our Soldiers see us down. As Rangers we lived up to that, but he laid his life down leading from the front, keeping his Soldiers out of harms way and in the end putting himself into it. I will never forget his smile, his laugh and his honesty. He will always be the standard for a Platoon Leader in my heart and mind. Frank, you were one of a kind brother. I love you and miss you." It was signed "Never Surrender, Never Retreat" SFC Christopher Noell Spartan-7.

In a May 30 article of the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) the Lt was interviewed and some of his comments were written into the story. His mother Mitzi Walkup found them on the internet during the night after they were told of their son's death. "Frank probably never knew he was in the article" she said. The article shows that the men of his command had compassion for the Iraqi people. They had stopped and discussed water situations and supplies for the local school where the teachers had been pressured to shut down by the terrorists (leave or die) so they left. "It is like we are fighting ghosts out here" Lt. Walkup tells the CSM reporter. "We have a huge area to cover, and you may not see that much going on here, but we have proof enough that they are out here".

Lt. Walkup received the rank of 2nd Lieutenant from ROTC the day before he graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. That is where he met his wife to be Sabita Maharaj. Maharaj was a tennis player for UT and in her junior year she was ranked 50th in the nation. The couple married December 2005 following graduation, the couple had not been married long before the Lt. was being shipped to different places for training, such as Ranger School in Fort Benning, Georgia, 29 Palms California and Hawaii. Hawaii is where the couple made their home. His company, stationed at Schofield Barracks, was called up for deployment to Iraq. His wife Sabita was the daughter of Sais and Janet Maharaj. She was born in Florida but will most likely be living in Dallas, Texas after the funeral.

First Lieutenant Frank B. Walkup IV is the first military death from Cannon County to be killed in any U.S. war since Harold Lawton Basham was killed in Vietnam. This county has given many to the cause of freedom from oppression around the world. In front of the Courthouse is a monument dedicated to the servicemen who had given their all. There were 22 killed in World War I, 36 in World War II, one in Korea and one in Vietnam and now Lt. Walkup from Operation Iraqi Freedom will be put on the monument for everyone to see and remember. In side the Courthouse there many pictures of the former veterans from Cannon County, as you can tell we are proud of our military here in Cannon County.

The Veterans and Concerned Citizens for Cannon County Veterans will be attending the funeral of Lt. Walkup which will be full military honors.

We ask that the citizens come out and represent this county with their American Flags to show support for this local hero and to comfort his family. Plans are being made for a Patriotic Veterans Group to come and honor the fallen soldier. Lt. Frank B. Walkup IV will be buried in the Riverside Cemetery west of Woodbury. His burial will be at 10:00 AM July 4th; that is so appropriate for a military man.

Bits and pieces of a wonderful life

UT Graduation Day 2005

"Mud Bowl" an annual front yard football event for the Walkup boys

All the Walkup kids Christmas 2005 on the front porch in Woodbury

Three generations of Frank Walkups on the front porch again

Frankie & mother Lisa in Memphis

Frankie, mother Lisa, and her nephew Christian in Memphis

Frankie & mother Lisa in Memphis - a visit after his graduation from UT in 2005

We are SO PROUD of you Frankie!!

Frankie, Nanny Glenda & brother Taylor in Memphis

Frankie, mother Lisa, and brother Taylor in Memphis

Young love--UT Commissioning Ceremony May 2005

Wedding night on front porch at home in Woodbury - New Year's Eve 2005

Newlyweds at Woodbury UMC, New Years Eve 2005

Military Ball 2005

ROTC Buddies at the Military Ball in April 2005

Franks Dad & Mother Pinning on the "butter bars" at Commissioning in May 2005

Very proud moment for the family at the UT/Army Commissioning Ceremony in May 2005 - we wouldn't have missed it for the world

Sabita, Frankie, Frank, and Mitzi at Ranger Graduation at Fort Benning in March 2006

Iraq April 2007

Like Father, Like Son

SFC Noell and 1LT Walkup - Spartan 7 & Spartan 6 - RANGERS
LEAD THE WAY!

Proud dad pinned RANGER Tab on Frankie's uniform at Ranger graduation in March 2006

Frankie (center front) and his squad in Iraq

These pictures as well as the captions came from Frankie's Photo Gallery page on
http://www.woodburyfuneralhome.net/

Special Thanks go out to Korie Aycock of the Woodbury Funeral Home for allowing us to post them here

This photo pretty well sums it all up

Photos Courtesy of Korie Gilley Aycock
of Woodbury Funeral Home

Click this link to see all of the Photos Korie sent us.

He also sent us a video we plan on adding here as soon as we can figure out a way to post it.

Photos we "TN3 Members" took during our visit in Woodbury TN at Frankie's Service

Scott, Mary, Donna, Pam & Lee

Everyone staged at Woodbury's City Hall

Shortly before 10:00am We left City Hall and rode to the Woodbury Church of Christ.
In all there were at least 50 Rolling Thunder members that were invited into the church to attend Frank's Services.