Welcoming Home a Hero

People began lining the streets in Monroe from just after 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30, 2013, to welcome home wounded warrior SPC Sam Walley, 20, as he made his trip home to Auburn. Walley was injured in an IED explosion in June 2012 while serving in Afghanistan, suffering the loss of his left arm and right leg. 

The word went out the day before that he would be passing through the communities of Social Circle and Monroe before heading on to his home in Auburn for the first time since being injured. According to people passing through Monroe on the way from Winder, people lined the streets all the way to his home.

A caravan met him in Augusta and the Barrow County Sheriff escorted the motorcade from I-20 all the way on Highway 11 to Winder and then on to his home. A police escort and motorcycles also accompanied the procession. A smiling Walley greeted his wellwishers with a wave as he passed through the city of Monroe.

If you were lining the streets in Walton County anywhere else along the route to greet the returning hero, please share your photos here on Patch. We thank SPC Walley for his service and sacrifice and wish him well in his recovery.