Slain soldier's family returns to Vancouver

Courtesy of the Walz family Pfc. Ian Walz of Vancouver was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan. Walz had told friends that he loved being in the Army and felt it was important to the country.

Family members of Pfc. Ian Walz, a 25-year-old graduate of Hudson's Bay High School who was killed in action with six others in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, have returned to Vancouver to plan a memorial service.

"We found out the news on the night of the 27th (Tuesday), and we haven't slept since," Katrina Walz, the slain soldier's former wife, said Thursday.

She and Ian Walz's mother, Victoria Walz, had returned from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

There, they met President Barack Obama, who made a special trip to honor Ian Walz, the six soldiers who died with him in an improvised explosive attack on their Stryker vehicle, and others killed in the war, including an eighth soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in a separate attack on the same day.

"It was just unreal," Katrina Walz said. "Ian would have been really proud."

An outpouring of sadness, thanks and praise has followed news of Ian Walz's death.

"Everybody loved him," Katrina Walz said. "He had lots of friends. I don't know a single person who didn't like him. He got along with everybody."

On Thursday, military officials were continuing tests of his remains, as is common in such cases.

"We don't know when his body is going to be released, but we're hoping within the next three to five days," said Katrina Walz, a nurse who works at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.

Katrina Walz said she met her former husband when she was 17, and both attended Bay for a time.

They met in a KFC restaurant on East Fourth Plain Boulevard, where he was working, and hit it off.

A friend had mentioned him, she said, "So we went to KFC one time and checked him out."

It wasn't his first job, she said.

"He was a very hard worker. His first job was at age 14. He had a newspaper route, and he's been working ever since."

Victoria Walz raised her son as a single mother, Katrina Walz said.

Walz didn't have an easy route through school, said Richard Sharp, a former teacher at Bay, but "he never allowed that to stop him from achieving what he wanted to achieve."

"One goal he had was to become a police officer; he went into the military for that. He epitomized what can happen if you put your mind to it," Sharp said.

Ian Walz attended Clark College for two years and hoped one day to obtain a master's degree, possibly in history, and teach.

"He could recall historical facts at the drop of a hat," Katrina Walz said.

"He always supported me through my school, and I supported him," she said. "Education was very important to us both."

Ian Walz loved attending movies, was a Dallas Cowboys fan and had wanted to join the Army since he was 18, she said. "I was like, no way. I didn't want him to die."

She added: "He's always been very patriotic. The Fourth of July was his favorite holiday."

Once he was in the Army, he said he enjoyed the service and felt it was important to America, she said.

"Every time I talked to him when he was overseas, he was very happy," she said. "He loved what he was doing. It gave him this newfound confidence."

On his MySpace page, last updated on Oct. 20, Ian Walz wrote that he was a "grunt" who chose the infantry and said, "I believe if you choose to be in the ARMY, you should be on the front lines anyway."

His "blurb" ended by saying, "After the Army, I plan on traveling the world. Not sure where or when. But, I want to do it before I go back to college."

Katrina Walz said she and Ian Walz divorced in June, after a two-year marriage and seven-year relationship.

"People just change, I guess, but we still remained best friends," she said.

It's been difficult since she learned of her former husband's death, she said.

"I've been off and on, good and bad," she added.

Joseph Piek, public information officer at Fort Lewis, said the base will hold a memorial event for the Stryker soldiers within a week. The date has not been set.

Kris Sork, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver School District, released a statement Thursday:

"Vancouver Public Schools has learned that a graduate of Hudson's Bay High School was among the eight soldiers based at Fort Lewis who were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Pfc. Ian Walz was a member of the Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division.

"Registered as Christopher Ian Walz, he entered Vancouver Public Schools as a preschooler. He attended Hough Elementary School, Discovery and McLoughlin middle schools, and Hudson's Bay High School until graduating in 2002 and going on to Clark College. He played football for Hudson's Bay."

Superintendent Steve Webb said in the statement: "We are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of this fine young man. I understand he spoke of becoming a teacher, and we wish he could have returned home to teach in our community."

Webb added: "I know he will be missed by those who knew him — his friends, his fellow classmates, and the teachers and staff members in our schools. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family."

A story published Thursday in The News Tribune in Tacoma said this of Tuesday's deaths of a total of eight Fort Lewis servicemen in Afghanistan:

"It was the deadliest day so far for Fort Lewis soldiers since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, according to a News Tribune analysis of casualty numbers."

Columbian staff writer Tom Vogt contributed to this story.