Army Staff Sgt. Wesley G. Hunter only lived in Colorado for three years but he knew it was where he wanted to come home to.  Having served in the Army from 1998 – 2001, he came to Colorado and quickly fell in love with our state.  He also fell in love with Rayanne Weese and married her on July 26, 2004 in a ceremony on a mountaintop in Colorado.  Soon after, he volunteered to return to active duty. 

On February 26, 2006 the Humvee he was riding in in Baghdad was hit by an IED.  Despite severe injuries, Hunter tended to two comrade’s injuries all while fighting off insurgents.  For this he received the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.  For more than two years he lived with the pain of the shrapnel and shards of metal that were inside of his abdomen and back, rarely letting on just how badly he hurt.  Last week Hunter succumbed to the pain and passed away at his parents’ home in Texas and yesterday he was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery in the shadows of those Colorado mountains that he loved so much. 

Please click here to watch a video tribute of his funeral.

Welcome home, Staff Sgt. Hunter.  Rest in peace, shipmate!