Army 1st Lt. Robert F. Welch III

Remember Our Heroes

Army 1st Lt. Robert F. Welch III, 26, of Denton, Texas

1st Lt Welch was assigned to 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Knox, Ky.; died April 3, 2011 in Khost province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his base with indirect fire.

Lt. Welch graduated from UT-Arlington in 2008 with a degree in military science and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, which was precisely what his friends and family knew he would do.

First Lt. Robert F. Welch III, 26, of Wylie died of wounds sustained when a mortar shell landed near him while he was patrolling the perimeter of his forward operating base in the Khost province, near the Pakistani border. Lt. Welch, ordnance officer, was assigned to the 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was on his first combat tour.

Lt. Welch graduated from UT-Arlington in 2008 with a degree in military science and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, which was precisely what his friends and family knew he would do.

Lt. Welch was one of three cadets who, in 2008, proposed the idea of marching from Arlington to Fort Hood to commemorate a road march in 1960 by UT-Arlington cadets, known as "the Long March."

But the 155-mile journey didn't happen until 2010, and by then, Lt. Welch was busy in the Army. "We definitely had him in our thoughts when we did the march, if you know what I mean," Diaz said. "We thought, 'Who came up with this idea? WELCH!!'"

"When the soldiers on the FOB found out, over 200 of them lined up to give blood for Robby," said Morris Vincent, a longtime family friend. "They just couldn't retrieve the blood fast enough."

Lt. Welch's body returned to U.S. soil Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base, Del., and was met by his father, Robert Welch II, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, and Lt. Welch's wife, Becky. Services are pending, but Lt Welch will be buried at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.

Among his awards were the Army Achievement Medal, as well as the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, both awarded posthumously.

He is survived by his wife, Becky, son, Robert IV, mother, Barbara Welch, and sister, Jane

Army 1st Lt. Robert F. Welch III was killed in action on 4/3/11.