Sgt. 1st Class Dexter E. Wheelous, 37, of Winder, Ga., died Dec. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Wheelous was assigned to the 842nd Military Training and Transition team, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.

With the funeral being on a Tuesday, the PGR is asking for your help to welcome a soldier home. Please help.

Staging for the mission will be in the parking lot of former Wayfield Foods, 3599 Martin Luther King, this is on the corner of Fairburn Rd. NW, Atlanta. This is approximately one mile from the church.

Staging will be at 9:30; briefing at 9:50, KSU at 10:00. This will allow us to arrive at the church and set flag lines no later than 10:15. The family is expected to arrive between 10:30 and 10:45 with the service to begin at 11:00.

For last minute details, please refer to the Patriot Guard web site at http://www.patriotguard.org

It is all about paying our respect.

It was cold. It was windy. But I'm proud to say that 62 patriots stood for one of our fallen heroes. The Wheelous family was grateful that their sacrifice didn't pass unrecognized.