Army Staff Sgt. William A. Allers III

Died September 20, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Leitchfield, Ky.; assigned to the 198th Military Police Battalion, 75th Troop Command, Kentucky Army National Guard, Louisville, Ky.; killed Sept. 20 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle in the vicinity of Khalis, Iraq, north of Baghdad.

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Ky. town pays tribute to fallen National Guard soldier

By Bruce Schreiner

Associated Press

LEITCHFIELD, Ky. — A Kentucky National Guard soldier killed in Iraq was remembered by his grieving sister-in-law as a friend and hero as his adopted hometown paid tribute Wednesday at a memorial service to the sergeant who was in the thick of the fighting.

William Alvin Allers III, who was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, died last week when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb about 40 miles north of Baghdad.

Allers, 28, had taken part in more than two dozen battles with Iraqi insurgents while participating in 150 combat patrols and 50 security escorts, according to Guard officials.

Crystal Wilson wrote a tribute to her brother-in-law for the memorial service attended by about 150 people at the American Legion Post 81 in this western Kentucky town.

Wilson, 23, was too choked with emotion to read the tribute. She wept and leaned her head on the shoulder of another mourner who read Wilson’s words.

“He wasn’t just a brother-in-law,” said Regina Talley, reading Wilson’s tribute. Talley’s son is in Allers’ unit, the 617th Military Police Company.

“He was a friend, a leader and most of all, my hero. He will forever be missed and loved,” Wilson wrote.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher praised Allers as a “model soldier” and “one of Kentucky’s best.”

“He showed incredible bravery under fire, truly a leader,” said Fletcher, who earlier in the day attended a departure ceremony in Madisonville for 50 Kentucky Guard soldiers headed to Iraq.

In the Sept. 20 blast that killed Allers, two other Kentucky Guardsmen were injured, the military said. They were flown to Landstuhl, Germany, for treatment of their injuries and were expected to recover.

Maj. Gen. Donald Storm, Kentucky’s adjutant general, also praised Allers’ bravery, and said the tragedy would not diminish the Guard’s resolve to carry out its mission in Iraq.

“Every member of the Kentucky National Guard truly understands that what this is all about is bringing hope and opportunity to 54 million of God’s creatures that just so happen to live in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Storm said.

Allers, a native of Baltimore, Md., was the eighth Kentucky National Guardsman to die in the Iraq war. Allers was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Wilson said in her tribute that Allers talked about his “close calls” in Iraq.

Bob Wenner said in an interview that he talked with Allers, his friend and co-worker at a plant that makes office furniture parts, when Allers visited Leitchfield this summer.

Wenner said Allers was upbeat and believed in his mission in Iraq.

“He said he almost felt like he was invincible because of the new armor on the Humvees,” said Wenner, an Army veteran who served in the first Iraq war. “He had two Hummers blow out from underneath him and he was on his third set of body armor. He said if he survived all that, he was good to go.”

Wenner said Allers loved fast cars and got to drive his Mustang during his visit.

“He did get a chance to leave some black tire marks out in the front of my house,” Wenner said, laughing. “He didn’t want to, but I was teasing him about it, saying he couldn’t do it. He did it.”

Allers’ funeral will be Monday at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa, Md. Burial is scheduled for Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Allers graduated from Fallston (Md.) High School in 1995, according to his family. He enlisted in the Army while still in high school and joined the Kentucky Guard in September 2003.

More than 1,400 Kentucky Guard soldiers are deployed in Iraq and more than 100 in Afghanistan. Allers’ unit is scheduled to return home in late October or early November, according to the Guard.

A total of 31 service members with Kentucky hometowns of record have died in the Iraq war, including the Guard members. In addition, more than 60 soldiers based at Fort Campbell, home to the 101st Airborne Division, have died in the war.

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Soldier killed in Iraq missed by many

Associated Press

Iraqi children loved seeing William A. Allers III on patrol. That meant fun things were going to happen.

“The soldiers handed out stationery, candy and gum. It opened up a whole new world to them. He was ecstatic that he was doing something good,” said younger brother Dave Allers.

Allers, 28, of Leitchfield, Ky., was killed Sept. 20 by a roadside bomb near Khalis. He was based at Louisville.

As a child, Allers showed deep interest in history, particularly in World War II and the Vietnam War, his brother said. He also loved to fish.

“He was a carefree kid. He liked clowning around,” said his father, William Allers Jr.

“But he liked to work hard.”

In high school, Allers excelled in track, capturing medals in state competitions. In 1995, during his senior year, he signed up for the Army. In 2003, he left to become a machinist at an office

furniture company.

“His friends looked up to him. The people who worked with him adored him. He’s going to be missed by a lot of people,” said his brother.

He also is survived by his wife, Bethany their 7-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old son from his first marriage.