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Army says farewell to a hero

Col William Wood "loved his soldiers and he was there taking care of them" when he became the highest-ranking U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.

HINESVILLE, Ga. - Six pallbearers in Army dress uniform carried the flag-draped casket from the church, shoe heels clapping the pavement in perfect one-two rhythm, as another held a salute at the white hearse.

This military town abutting Fort Stewart has lost dozens of soldiers to the war in Iraq, but never before as senior an officer as Col. William Wesley Wood. Neither has the U.S. military.

More than 200 soldiers, friends and relatives attended funeral services Friday for Wood, 44, of Panama City, Fla. He was the highest-ranking U.S. soldier killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, and he died a hero's death.

Wood had rushed to aid one of his company commanders who lay mortally wounded after a bomb exploded Oct. 27 in Baghdad. A second bomb killed Wood.

"He took charge of the scene, was making sure security was established, looking for secondary devices and calling medevacs in, and a secondary device went off," said Col. Glenn Burch, a close friend who escorted Wood's casket from Iraq to Georgia.

"He loved his soldiers and he was there taking care of them," said Burch, chief of staff for the Army's Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division.

The 3rd Infantry was Wood's first assignment after being commissioned as an officer in 1984. He later served was 19,000-soldier division's deputy chief of staff. He deployed to Iraq this year as deputy commander of the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, the 3rd Infantry's commander, recalled Wood's fondness for handing out candy and stuffed animals to Iraqi children in hopes they would grow up with tolerance for Americans.

"Bill Wood knew every street and alley in his neighborhoods, and he knew that if the Iraqi kids came out to greet us, even if haltingly, their parents would not attack us," Webster said via e-mail from Iraq.

In July, 3rd Infantry commanders tapped Wood to lead the troubled 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment of the California National Guard. The unit's commander was replaced after 12 soldiers were charged with abusing prisoners.

Burch said Wood was just the type of experienced officer needed to take charge of the Guard unit. He proved it with his death, after which the Army promoted him posthumously from lieutenant colonel to colonel.

"He was doing what battalion commanders should be doing - leading from the front," said Col. John M. Kidd, Fort Stewart's garrison commander. "We miss him and we're going to be looking after his family."

Wood left a wife of 17 years, Nanci Wood, and a 13-year-old daughter, Rachel. At the family's request, his funeral at Hinesville United Methodist Church was closed to reporters.

He will be buried Sunday at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola.

[Last modified November 5, 2005, 01:22:18]