Their Story
Remembering Tyler Walshe.
Tyler R. Walshe was the kind of guy people wanted around - a friend who showed up for a pickup game of basketball, and a father who lit up the moment his daughter was in his arms. A friend from home, Ruben Contreras, said afterward that he'd miss playing basketball with Tyler and had nothing but good things to say about him.
Another acquaintance, Guy Lane, remembered watching Tyler hold and comfort his baby girl like a proud father. His wife, Kirsten, called him simply "the most amazing person."
A native of Shasta, California, Tyler enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 2006 and went on to earn the Combat Infantryman Badge serving with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Washington. In July 2009 he deployed with his brigade to southern Afghanistan.
On August 31, 2009, at just 21 years old, Specialist Walshe was killed in action in Kandahar province when his unit was struck in an enemy IED attack. He had been in country little more than a month. Two of his fellow soldiers, Spc. Jonathan D. Welch and Pfc. Jordan M. Brochu, fell in the same attack, and the three are remembered together.
He is survived by his wife, Kirsten, and their daughter, Karsyn. That November, Karsyn's first birthday landed on Veterans Day - a date forever tied to the father who cherished her.