In Memory of Kurtis Wayne Wiltcher

I met Kurt in May of 2007 through some friends Lee, Stacie, and Kayla. I had been picking on Kayla every time I seen her, and she said that that her friend was going to beat me up if I didn’t stop, I laughed it off and continued picking at her about everything. One evening we were all going to eat at the catfish wagon and Kurt showed up Kayla told him that he was supposed to beat me up and after we ate which he laughed about and said it would probably be better to become friends because I’m not really into fighting or violence which wasn’t completely true u would know that if u ever bowled with him. One night we were bowling, and I was beating him the first 5 frames by about 20 or 30 pins, and he was so mad that he threw his towel changed his ball 2 or 3 times until he figured out the lane then threw nothing but strikes the rest of the game and beat me by 1.

He was so competitive in everything he did from board games, all sports, fishing, fantasy football/baseball, and even living life. Kurt would get online and play Xbox with myself and Andy so much that our wives started teasing us about it. One day while playing online he said hey we need a clan tag for our group and I have one for us to use its called (JACK) Andy and I asked what does (JACK) have to do with us and he said in his normal way Jonathan, Andy and Captain Kurt even in naming our group he was so completive he had to have two names and be the Captain He Strived to be the best at everything he ever did and he completed that goal on march the 8th 2016.

The common passage that keeps getting said is from 2nd Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I finished the race, I have kept the faith”. I also like this quote from and unknown author “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just to the length of it” Kurt did more in his 29 years on this earth and Kurt didn’t just live to the length of it his life he lived it to the fullest through his friends through his family his faith in God our savior I love ya brother... RIP “Captain Kurt”

My Life My Journey

As I sit in this office that sometimes seems like home I think about my life and everything I’ve done wrong. I look back to high school sitting in class making jokes and fun of people to get a few laughs. I wanted everyone to like me for that u had to be cool, so I tried to impress them by sometimes being cruel. My few friends were the butts of my jokes their pain was my laugh. They would smile or grin, but u could see the pain within. I didn’t realize how much I was hurting them until a guy walked up to me and started his attack on words like it was rehearsed, I looked around and everyone was laughing and staring at me. That’s when I realized what the pain and suffering my friends had been through, I walked away mad and embarrassed. The next day I was still mad so I avoided contact with everyone but that guy found me walked up like nothing had happened and started a conversation about life and where would we be in 10 years, what kind of person do u want to be and how do u plan on getting there my answer was simply I don’t know. He told me his life story like it had already happened and I realized he had bigger dreams than being one of the popular guys he had a plan, and I had nothing. He became an inspiration to me someone that I wanted to look up to. Life has a funny way of showing u what u need to see when you need it the most. I was a small kid with small dreams living in a small town. After high school I started working at a big retail store stocking shelves living the small-town life, met a small-town girl got married and settled down but I didn’t feel like I was following my dreams.


I started thinking back to the conversation with this guy of where I will be in 10 years and it was becoming clear that I would be in this small town. A couple years later Sept 11, 2001 the Country watched in fear as planes crashed into the twin towers. We openly cried as the towers fell and all those lives were lost 2996 to be exact. I remember President Bush making his statement and the feelings I had watching helplessly. Everyone who was a part of that day knows where they were and what they were doing when the attacks happened, I was at this retail store watching the emergency broadcast on their TV’s. I remember going home and tell my wife that I wanted to join the Army so I could be part of something bigger and possibly make a difference. The answer I received was one I was not expecting she told me that if I join, she would file for divorce so I told her that I didn’t want to lose her, and I wouldn’t join. So much changed on that day the country was united, enlistment in the military skyrocketed but I stayed home I watched on my TV in 2003 when 160,000 were sent into IRAQ the stories that the news reported the lives that were being lost for our freedom. I remember the sendoffs of guys I went to school with along with some people that I worked with deployed It was scary time for all that was involved but we lived in the comfort of knowing that our home was safe because of their sacrifice and duty to their country.


Everyone needs a best friend someone u can talk to can tell them anything without judgment for me that was my sister she helped my though some of the hard times in my life and kept me on the right path. We would talk almost every day and was always supportive of anything that I wanted to do if it was not illegal of going to get me hurt. After 911 I told what I wanted to do, and she was excited because it would add the structure and waypoint I needed in my life. She seemed to be the only one who supported the idea of me joining the Army and she was disappointed when I told her that I wasn’t going to join. I told her that the reason I didn’t join was because I just got a new job offer and I was a great opportunity. The job wasn’t an opportunity it was more of a nightmare and a way to deflect the attention away from my wife’s stance on the Military. The new job caused its own set of new problems it was a second shift job working from 3 to 1130 at night so I away from home more in the afternoon. It soon turned into a 5 to 5 shift working overnights which caused more headache as I slept most of the day and worked all night. When I would get up before work I would talk to my sister and go out to see her most days when she wasn’t in school. She was smart and funny the kind of person I wanted to be. She had a plan I was so proud of her for setting her goals and there was no doubt she would complete everyone.


There I was 6 years out of high school still didn’t have a plan of where my life was going. I took a trip to a Military museum where patriotism reigns supreme every plaque, every display tells a story about the journey someone took to reach their goal to be their best to live a selfless life. The struggles of war and the loss of life so that someone else can sleep in their bed worry free because they were protecting us. I got a call in July of 2005 from a friend that one of our classmates was killed in IRAQ from an IED. I was devastated that something like that could happen to someone I know. That the same person who walked up to me in and embarrassed me to make me see how I was treating my friends was wrong. He was a Hero to me and told me that he was going to join the Marines and make a difference I know he did in my life. He had a Hero’s welcome home I remember the amount of people that lined up on the roads as he was brought home and laid to rest. The impact he had on everyone’s life was evident by the life he lived and the memories everyone has of him. That is what inspired me to travel to this museum and take in every monument like he was standing there telling me about it.


After struggling with the death of my classmate that I called a friend I went back into my life thinking about what could have been. Where would I be if I enlisted in 2001 instead of worrying about the way my wife would react. I talked to my sister about everything that was going on what I was struggling with, she told me to follow my dreams and not worry about what would happen and she only wanted me to be happy. She graduated high school and enrolled into College on a scholarship. She was going into nursing and wanted to maybe someday become a Doctor. The summer was winding down and time for school to start was getting closer she asked me to come hang out with her on Aug 10, 2005 before she headed for school the next week, but I was busy and had to work that night, so I needed to get some sleep. My phone rang about 3 that afternoon while I was getting ready for work and my cousin had told me my sister was in a 4-wheeler accident and it didn’t look good that I needed to get there as soon as possible. I arrived in within 10 mins on a trip that normally takes 25 to see her being strapped down and loaded into a helicopter. We rushed to the hospital to find out that she was non-responsive and was on life support her body was shutting down and there was nothing that they could do. We said our goodbyes and they asked if she was an organ donor, we told them she was and that’s what she would have wanted because of the amount of people she could help. In less than a month I lost 2 people who were inspirational to me and gave me guidance in a time of need. I remember how I felt that night sitting at my house with my life crashing in front of me asking what am I doing why is this happening? What if I would have not been too busy to spend the day with my sister could I have changed what happened? I struggle with that every day the what if or what could have been. I decided I needed to make some changes in my life in my mid 20’s so Feb of 2006 I walked into a recruiting office and enlisted into the Army. Finally, after 5 years I did something for myself and didn’t care what anyone thought about it. I went home that night and told my wife that I enlisted in the Army she could either accept if or we can go our separate ways. She was so mad that she left and went to stay at her moms and told me it was over. I filled for divorce and shipped off to basic training to start the rest of my journey. I have no regrets on joining 11 years ago it’s been the best years of my life. I have since remarried and have four awesome children. Life is full of obstacles inside a maze but if you follow your dreams and stay the path you will find your way out the other side.