Velton Locklear honored, laid to rest

A bugler at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery -- standing amid uniform rows of knee-high marble headstones bleached by the glaring afternoon sun -- played taps, a ceremonial goodbye to another son, husband and father who gave his life fighting in Iraq.

A group of family, friends and well-wishers gathered to pay their last respects today to Sgt. Velton Locklear III, who was killed Sept. 23 by a roadside bomb near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Today I feel a little more at ease, said retired Sgt. Maj. Velton Locklear Jr., the soldier s father, after the ceremony. It started when my son arrived, the fact that he arrived home. I feel that we re somewhat at peace now because we know he s gone to a better place. We re going to miss him.

From the El Paso Times

Soldier Laid to Rest

Wednesday, October 4, 2006 — The traditional "Taps" song was part of the ceremony, as well as a Gun Salute. Locklear's wife, Denise, wept as she was handed a purple heart for the wounds her husband received, and a bronze star for his contributions to the war on terrorism. The couple's two young boys sat beside their mother the entire time, and looked on as she was handed the American flag.
"We had singing, we sang Amazing Grace, and the preacher gave a beautiful service," his sister Julie Angulo said. I know that's what Velton wanted and he was very happy with that."

This was Locklear's second tour in Iraq. The first time he volunteered and the second time he was deployed when he re-enlisted. He was killed by a roadside bomb while driving with another soldier last month.

From KTSM 9


Father of soldier says troops need more armor

Sgt. Velton Locklear III, 29, an El Paso native killed by a roadside bomb while on combat patrol in Iraq last week, switched units so he could join the fight in Iraq, his father says.

But his father, retired Sgt. Maj. Velton Locklear Jr., also wants people to know that his warrior son had a melodious singing voice and, in his youth, had a paying job as first-chair cello player in the Juárez symphony.

The younger Locklear was in the lead vehicle in a five-Humvee convoy traveling through a small town near the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk on Sept. 23 when the roadside bomb was detonated, killing him and the driver, the elder Locklear said. He said his son's commander told him the younger Locklear and the driver took the brunt of the explosion and died instantly.

Because of the nature of the injuries, the service will be closed-casket, he said.

"They can pretty much run into anything out there; fire fights, snipers" and the improvised explosive devices, said the elder Locklear, a Gulf War veteran.

In the father's grief is a trace of anger. Locklear wonders whether the nation is doing enough to protect its soldiers.
"We've been doing this now for three years, and we still can't get the armor thick enough on these Humvees," he said. "Or (develop) something that would signal (when a roadside bomb was near) with an alarm or siren. We're not just talking one soldier here, we're talking several.

"I just think that what we're doing (to improve protection against explosive devices), we need to do more of it."

Locklear said he doesn't fault the military.

"I was a soldier for 24 years, and I would go right now if I had to," he said.

The fallen soldier, on his second Iraq tour, was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, which is stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

His desire was to become a command sergeant major, an Army unit's highest-ranking non-commissioned officer.

It was the senior Locklear -- a former Fort Bliss drill instructor and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldier -- who started the family's military tradition. The family moved often, including stays at posts in Washington state and North Carolina, eventually returning to Fort Bliss.

"He was around the military basically his entire life," Locklear said of his son, an El Paso native. "When he was 5, 6, 7, 8, he would go and do (physical training) with us in the unit. É He said he was inspired by, not only me, but the other military people around him."

The younger Locklear moved from high school to high school, landing at Eastwood High School in El Paso in 1993 and graduating in 1995. It was during that time he played cello in Juárez.

"We'd take him over there twice a week," Locklear said. "He sort of lost interest in it (eventually) and got into football, and that's where he stayed."

His son played wide receiver for Eastwood and received a four-year football scholarship to the University of Missouri, Locklear said. The son's also extended to track and field, basketball and soccer.

Although serious around his father -- trying to please the man he looked up to -- Locklear had an irrepressible mischievous streak, often expressed in playful pinches, singing at the drop of a hat (even to television commercials) and joking.

Locklear said he talked with his namesake son almost every day, even when they were separated by thousands of miles.

"He was a beautiful person," said the soldier's mother, Carmen Locklear, tears staining her cheeks. "I just want to say God bless all those soldiers that are in Iraq, and may God bring them home to their mothers and their wives, all of them."

The younger Locklear began his military career with a National Guard unit in Dallas.

"He told me, 'This unit is not doing anything. I want to be where the action is,' " the elder Locklear recalls his son saying. "I told him, 'If that's what you want to do, I think that's a good idea. I'm sure you would do a great job over there.' ... Velton died doing what he loved, and I never would take that away from him."

Soldiers from his platoon remembered their comrade in comments printed inside a program made for a memorial service at the unit's Hawaii headquarters.

"If he was given the chance to die or have someone else take his place, he would (chose) himself," one soldier wrote. Another said, "From a soldier's standpoint, he was a good leader. His soldiers would follow him to the end of the world."

The old drill instructor's eyes cloud over and his voice softens when he talks about his son.

"I will never accept the fact that he's dead," the father said. "I'll salute him every day and at my house (in Laredo, Texas) I'll fly the flag at half-staff. É He's my hero. He was my best buddy. He was a big part of me."

From the El Paso Times

Related Link:
Velton Locklear III, on 2nd tour of duty, killed by roadside bomb