Final honors go to Marine killed in Afghanistan
Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008
BENTONVILLE — Family and friends remembered Cpl. Kyle Weston Wilks as a friend with a thoughtful wit, a Marine with a drive to serve others and a son with maturity beyond his 24 years.
Wilks, a Rogers native, died in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on April 15 when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.
Gov. Mike Beebe ordered flags throughout the state be lowered to halfstaff Wednesday as Wilks’ loved ones filled the sanctuary of Grace Point Church for his funeral.
Wilks, a 2002 Rogers High School graduate, was close to his parents, Randall J. Wilks and Kathy A. Wilks of Rogers, and his 19-year-old sister, MaKayla.
Like other young men, Wilks occasionally drove a little too fast or slept a little too late, Pastor Tim Deatrick said. But his ease with people and his regard for others made him stand out among his peers.
“He had a sharp wit and an easy smile,” he said. “He wasn’t the most verbal person in the room, but you could tell his mind was always working.” Wilks would often shake his pastor’s hand after church on Sunday, trading jabs about the length of his sermons and the flopped jokes he told the congregation.
Wilks was once a server at Dixie Cafe, where he was known for doling out extralarge portions of Southern food to friends and family seated in his section. He also worked at Lowe’s, where he stopped people in the aisles to carry on conversations.
He wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement.
He was a protective big brother to MaKayla, who viewed him as a hero, Deatrick said.
“Kyle had a big heart. He loved everyone — with perhaps the exception of whoever MaKayla was dating,” he said.
Wilks joined the Marines in 2004 and completed basic training in San Diego. He was attached to a unit stationed at Camp Lejeune, N. C.
He was first deployed in June 2006 as a part of the 24 th Marine Expeditionary Unit, helping with the evacuation of Beruit. He returned home in December of that year. Before his second deployment March 10, he visited New York and saw ground zero, an experience that reaffirmed his commitment to his military service, his family said. The family was told that he was riding in the fourth vehicle in a convoy of about 34 vehicles that was struck by a bomb near Kandahar, where nearly 2, 300 U. S. Marines have arrived over the past two months. Also killed in the bomb blast was 1 st Sgt. Luke J. Mercardante, 35, of Athens, Ga.
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders, leather-clad military veterans on motorcycles and carrying U. S. flags, escorted the line of cars to the cemetery.
At graveside services in Benton County Memorial Park, family members remained composed until members of the Marine color guard presented Wilks ’ parents with his Purple Heart.
Kathy Wilks leaned on her husband’s shoulder and squeezed the white-gloved hand of Staff Sgt. Aaron Belt, a military liaison to the family, as veterans presented a gun salute and folded the flag on top of his coffin.
Wilks’ dog tags hung on the coffin’s handle.
Throughout Wilks’ Marine career, he had been awarded a Good Conduct Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Wilks is the 71 st member of the armed forces with Arkansas roots to die in the U. S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — 66 in Iraq and five in Afghanistan.
Belt said Wilks demonstrated the “core values which form the bedrock of a Marine’s character,” including courage, dedication and respect for human dignity. Wilks, a confessed Christian, illustrated the service and sacrifice of Jesus Christ by putting himself in a dangerous situation for his country, Deatrick said. “Kyle has demonstrated more about God than a lifetime of sermon giving or sermon hearing could ever accomplish,” he said. “We are humbled today that someone we know has given such a great gift for us.” To contact this reporter: eblad@arkansasonline. com
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