Spc. Rowan D. Walter of Winnetka, California attended Cole Elementary, Alta Sierra Intermediate and was a 1999 graduate of Buchanan High School where he was an easy-going, peace-loving student that gave out to others who needed help. He enlisted in the Military in fall 2005 to become a medic for the Army. He was considering a career in the medical field after serving and was often reading medical dictionaries for fun memorizing body parts. Rowan knew how to relax in a suit and would make funny faces to ease a tense situation. Once he gave his tie to a homeless man who said he didn't have decent clothes. Rowan was a Renaissance man. He was always after adventures whether it was boxcar racing, Boy Scout camping trips or in-line skating on campus. After high school, he went on two-year mission trips for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lived in Switzerland and France and became fluent in several languages. He learned to love the world and was very cultured, very European. He understood things on a broader scale other than the U.S. versus the world. Upon his return to the United States in 2003 he attended Fresno City College, the State Center Community College Clovis Center and a college in Orem, Utah. He met his wife and enlisted in the military while he was living with his sister in Southern California. The newly married couple moved to Colorado where Walter was stationed at Fort Carson. He was deployed to Iraq in October 2006, less than a year after his wedding. Rowan died of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Ramadi at age 25. His parents and widow with two posthumous awards, a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart for injuries.

Army
1st Battalion
9th Infantry Regiment
2nd Brigade Combat Team
2nd Infantry Division
Fort Carson, Colorado