Summary: On Memorial Day we remember Willow Park residents who died for our country. Pfc. Paul Balint Jr. of Willow Park was 22 when he died in service to his country; he was killed 15 December 2006 by small-arms fire in Ramadi, Iraq. He died of injuries sustained when his unit came in contact with the enemy during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Latest Update: reposted Monday, 27 May 2024; posted Monday, 29 May, 2023
Remembering Willow Park residents who died in service.
Pfc. Paul Balint Jr. Memorial Park in Willow Park is dedicated to Paul Balint Jr., son of Carmen and Paul Balint, Sr., of Abilene and Willow Park.
Paul Balint Jr. and his parents came from a military background. And although he was born a Texan at Dyess Air Force Base, about seven (7) miles southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, he received his diploma in Centerville, Virginia in 2001.
Balint enlisted in the U.S. Army in September of 2005 -- after his family moved from Virginia to Willow Park -- to fulfill his dream of being a Combat Infantry Soldier.
Paul was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany; he had been in Iraq for three months and had been in the Army for a little more than a year, before he was killed 15 December 2006 by small-arms fire in Ramadi, Iraq. He died of injuries sustained during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Paul was 22 when he died in service to his country.
Pfc. Paul Balint Jr. Memorial Park
Size: Approx. 1.5 Acres
Existing Amenities:
• Walking Trail (.2 miles)
• Seating • Arbors •Pavilion
• Planters/Planting
• Flag Poles
• Memorial Marker
• Shade (mature trees)
• Parking (shared with Municipal Complex)
• Demonstration Gardens
Location: 516 Ranch House Rd
32.74377973366418, -97.63566639107256
Honor Sites
• 37th Armor Regiment Hall of Heroes, Tedesco's
Obituaries
• Paul Balint Obituary, Legacy.com, The Washington Post
Before deploying to Iraq, Paul Balint Jr. and the rest of his team would gather for barbecues at Sgt. Paul Able's home.
"He was so excited when I finally got my gas grill, and when he would get to my house, he would grab a beer and some meat and kick me off my grill and go to town," said Able.
Balint, 22, of Willow Park, Texas, was killed Dec. 15 by small-arms fire in Ramadi. He was assigned to Friedberg, Germany.
Pfc. Justin Armenta remembered meeting Balint for the first time during training in Germany. Balint came up and asked if he could use Armenta's cell phone.
Armenta gave him a dirty look and asked him why. "I need to call my dad and tell him I'm all right, I'm in Germany, and I love him," was Balint's reply. "That was the person he was," Armenta said.
His family, recalling his love for hip-hop, said he was looking forward to coming home so he could put words and music to the movies that he recorded in Iraq.
He is survived by his parents, Paul Sr. and Cameron.
"He never met a stranger," Paul Sr. said. "It'd be pretty hard to find somebody that didn't like him. He didn't have a bad word to say about anybody."
Published by The Washington Post on Dec. 22, 2006
• Paul Balint Jr., Legacy.com, Star-Telegram
Paul Balint Jr., 22, died Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, while serving in Iraq as a private first class in the Army.
Funeral Mass: was at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Entombment: Elmwood Memorial Park, Abilene.
Paul was born May 8, 1984, at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. He received his diploma in Centerville, Va., in 2001, worked for ITA Insulation in Centerville and for Fly I Airlines at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. He enlisted in the Army in September 2005 to fulfill his dream of being a combat infantry soldier and had been in Iraq for three months. Paul was always the life of the party and enjoyed in-line skating, skate boarding and hip-hop music.
Survivors: Parents, Paul Sr. and Carmen Balint of Willow Park; brother, Angelo Balint of Willow Park; grandparents, George Sr. and Tina Balint of Palmury, Va.; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Published by Star-Telegram on Jan. 3, 2007.
PFC Paul J. Balint Jr.
BIRTH 8 May 1984 Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, USA
DEATH 15 Dec 2006 (aged 22) Iraq
BURIAL Elmwood Memorial Park Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, USA
Pfc. Paul Balint Jr. of Willow Park, Texas, came from a military background and joined up after his family moved from Virginia to Willow Park.
He had been in Iraq for three months and had been in the Army for a little more than a year. He loved it, that's what he wanted to do.
Paul was born at Dyess Air Force Base and received his diploma in Centerville, Virginia in 2001, worked for ITA Insulation in Centerville and for Fly I Airlines at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September of 2005 to fulfill his dream of being a Combat Infantry Soldier.
Paul was always the life of the party and enjoyed in-line skating, skate boarding and hip-hop music. He was looking forward to coming home in March so that he could put words and music to the movies that he recorded in Iraq. He was 22.
Army
Company B
1st Platoon
1/26 Infantry Regiment
1st Brigade Combat Team
1st Infantry Division
Schewinfurt, Germany
Articles
• Fallen Warriors honored at new Dyess memorial [in .pdf] Abilene Reporter News, 03 December 2016
• Texas soldier killed in Iraq is remembered for his laugh and love of barbecue [in .pdf], Stars and Stripes, 06 December 2006
• John Watson: Veteran Falls Memorial Park holds stone ceremony, Cleburne Times Review. 22 July 2014, On Nov. 20, the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 23-1 out of Lewisville organized a memorial ride to Veteran Falls
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