SJ183: Celebrating the life of Major William F. Hecker III.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 183
Offered January 30, 2006
Celebrating the life of Major William F. Hecker III.
Patrons-- Devolites Davis; Delegate: Shannon

WHEREAS, United States Army Major William F. Hecker III, aged 37, was killed in the line of duty in Iraq on January 5, 2006; and

WHEREAS, William "Bill" Hecker was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, grew up the oldest child of a career military couple, graduated from McLean High School, accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and, while there, earned a bachelor's degree in engineering management; and

WHEREAS, in 2000, Major Hecker earned a master's degree in English from the University of Oregon and returned to West Point to serve as an instructor and assistant professor of English; and

WHEREAS, Major Hecker completed the United States Army's Command and General Staff College in 2004 and was deployed to Iraq in November 2005 as the Operations Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division; and

WHEREAS, on January 5, 2006,  Major Hecker was with his unit in a convoy traveling from Baghdad to Najaf to witness the progress being made on rehabilitating local schools when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee; and

WHEREAS, Major Hecker published articles and spoke at academic conferences about subjects ranging from Mark Twain to baseball; he presented a paper at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture in 2004; and his edition of Edgar Allen Poe's Private Perry and Mister Poe: The West Point Poems, 1831 was published by the Louisiana State University Press in the spring of 2005; and

WHEREAS, Major Hecker will be remembered for his compassion, complexity, and ardent devotion to his family and will be fondly remembered by his wife and four children, his parents, and numerous other family members and friends; and

WHEREAS, Major Hecker's death is a reminder of the hazards faced daily by the thousands of Americans who serve in our armed forces overseas and whose devotion to duty places them in harm's way; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of a courageous and patriotic Virginian, Major William F. Hecker III; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Major William F. Hecker III as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly and the citizens of Virginia.