Davis Bill to Rename Post Office for Vienna Soldiers Killed In Iraq Approved by Senate

December 07, 2006

Washington, D.C. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va. 11th) to rename a post office in Vienna for two local soldiers killed in Iraq was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Senate.

House Resolution 6102, which would rename the post office at 200 Lawyers Rd. in Vienna for Army Capt. Christopher Petty, a graduate of James Madison High in Vienna, and Maj. William F. Hecker, III, who graduated from McLean High, no goes to President Bush for his signature.

Petty, 33, Hecker, 37, and three other soldiers were killed Jan. 5, when a roadside bomb detonated near the Humvee they were driving in a convoy from Baghdad to Najaf to see the progress made on rehabilitating schools there.

Hecker, a literature buff who taught English at West Point, comes from a military family. His father. Col. William F. Hecker Jr., served two tours in Vietnam with the Army, and his brother, John Hecker, is in the Marine Corps stationed in Japan. Major Hecker is survived by his wife and children Alexandra, Victoria, Cordelia and William.

Petty also hails from a military family. His grandfather, Ed Petty, served as an artillery officer in World War II. Chris Petty was born in Berlin and lived in Austria, Finland and Jamaica before moving to Virginia. After graduating from Madison, he attended Marshall University in Huntington, W. Va., where he participated in the ROTC program and was commissioned into the Army upon graduation. He is survived by his wife, Deborah, and sons Owen and Oliver.