NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Lebanon Family Mourns Death Of Soldier Son

Lebanon Family Mourns Death Of Soldier Son

LEBANON, Tenn. - Frederick Lincks said he loves his country and believes it has a new hero after his son, 23-year-old Staff Sgt. William Henry Linck was killed Dec. 7 in Baghdad.

"I'll always remember Staff Sergeant William Henry Linck. Born, Dec. 25, 1982... died Dec. 7, 2006," Frederick Linck told NewsChannel 5. "He'll never be forgotten. I want people to know him."

Originally from Kansas, the Lincks now live in Lebanon, Tenn., which is east of Nashville.

The soldier took long distance trips with his truck-driving dad. He enlisted in the military as a teen and excelled.

"When he was a kid, he was adventurous," Frederick Linck said. "He was a Ranger. He was a jump master. He was air assault."

The soldier's father and stepmother heard from the Pentagon Monday that an explosive device in Iraq took his life.     

Frederick Linck's wife, Debbie drives a school bus for Wilson County. One of her students offered her a booklet with a letter from a fellow soldier. The Lincks said it sums up how their son felt.

"This letter is in case I never get the chance to tell you I don't regret going. Everybody dies, but a few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we're in Iraq. I'm here helping these people so they can live the way we live," according to an excerpt.

Linck will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. His family is planning a memorial in his honor in Wilson County following the burial.