Dexter E. Wheelous dies of injuries from I.E.D.

When Sgt. 1st Class Dexter Wheelous was growing up, he talked about joining the Army.

"He loved the Army," Wheelous' sister, Cassandra Wilson, remembered Friday. "We used to call him 'Uncle Sam.' "

Wheelous, 37, a career Army man who lived in Winder before he was deployed, was killed Monday in Baghdad, Iraq, in an improvised explosive device attack. He was assigned to the 842nd Military Training and Transition Team, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

"He was a sweet, sweet, kind-hearted, happy person," Wilson said of her brother. "He didn't have any enemies; everybody loved him. He was always smiling."

Wheelous entered the Army in August 1987 and worked as a recruiter before being assigned to a transition team mission - a group of advisers assigned to Iraqi Army units working to make that army self-sufficient. In July, Wheelous was assigned to the transition team at Fort Riley.

Funeral arrangements still are pending.

Capt. Hayes N. Clayton, 29, of Fort Valley, who was assigned to the same unit, also was killed in the attack.

Wheelous is the 11th Athens-area soldier killed while serving in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Clayton's grandmother, Vera Cooper of Memphis, Tenn., told The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal that Clayton entered the Army after graduating from Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

Clayton, who left for duty in September, had been married for a little more than a year and his son, Hayes Clayton III, was born in August, Cooper said. Capt. Clayton is survived by his wife, Monica, and his son, as well as his father and two brothers in Fairburn, southwest of Atlanta.

Born in Atlanta, Wheelous was the youngest of nine children. He is survived by four brothers, four sisters and his wife of nine years, Sadie.

Growing up, he was an avid basketball player, picking up the nickname "Bird" after basketball legend Larry Bird.

"He had a good game," Wilson remembered.

Wheelous graduated from Atlanta's S.H. Archer High School in 1987, and following graduation, he enlisted in the Army. He deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Storm.

During his military career, Wheelous lived at Fort Stewart for a while, then about five years ago, he moved to Winder where he was stationed as an Army recruiter.

"He loved to do anything he could for the Army," Wilson said.

Wilson said she last spoke with her brother on Christmas Eve. But when the family gathered this year to celebrate Christmas, the spirit just wasn't the same.

In fact, some of the relatives commented that the spirit wasn't the same, and about two hours later, they found out the bad news: Wheelous had been killed in Iraq.

"I didn't believe it when I first heard it," Wilson said. "And I still don't. It's just hard. I still can't believe it."

But if there is anything that brings solace to Wilson, perhaps it's knowing that her brother - who she also considers "my hero" - gave his life to a cause he believed in, she said.

"I know he died doing what he wanted to do," Wilson said.

From the Banner Herald