By MELANIE POOLE / Special to the Reporter

The Veteran of the Week is sponsored by the National Veterans Shrine and Register of Honor at the American Village — honoring America’s veterans and telling the stories of their service and sacrifice for the cause of liberty.

“The American Village is pleased to join the Shelby County Reporter in recognizing Corporal Walter Lewis Colbert, Jr. as Veteran of the Week,” American Village founder and CEO Tom Walker said. “He is representative of the hundreds of thousands of Alabamians who have risked it all for the sake of our country and its freedom. To all veterans we owe a debt we can never fully repay.”

Visit the website, Veteransregisterofhonor.com, today and add your loved ones to the Register of Honor. Help us honor, recognize, respect and remember our country’s veterans.

Here are highlights about this week’s Veteran of the Week: Walter Lewis Colbert, Jr. was born in Guntersville in 1966. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989. His Boot Camp training was at Parris Island, and he attended Infantry Training School at Camp Geiger/Camp Lejeune. He was assigned to the Marine Barracks in Vallejo, CA, but soon joined the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (F.A.S.T Company). He also served with the 3rd Battalion 1st Marines – Camp Pendleton, CA, and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, West Pac.