Christian, Brett T.

Brett. T. Christian

North Royalton, Ohio

Feather Location: Row P, #14

By Robin Shulman ,(c) The Washington Post, Friday, August 8, 2003

At night in Iraq, Army Sergeant Brett T. Christian often slept on top of his truck to catch a bit of welcome breeze after desert days of 120-degree heat. By day, his job driving a 21/2-ton diesel carrier was both grueling and dangerous in a land where opposition to the U.S. presence is expressed in attacks on military convoys.

On the morning of July 23, a roadside bomb detonated just as Christian's vehicle passed, killing the 27-year-old from Ohio, his squad leader recalled. Services were conducted for Christian yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery, where 25 combatants from Operation Iraqi Freedom now rest.

Under a spitting rain, the now-familiar rituals -- the crisp salutes, the bugler sounding taps, the presentation of a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, the rifle volley into the air -- paid Christian his final tribute. Earlier, services were held at a military camp in Mosul, the northern Iraqi town where he was killed, and at a church near Cleveland…

Harris relied on Christian as one of his most dependable drivers, able to log 20-hour days moving soldiers, loads of ammunition, thousands of gallons of fuel and pallets of bottled water and Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs.

No matter how serious the task, Christian made people laugh, agreed those who knew him from childhood as well as those who had met him recently….

Carver: Ed McHenry was born in Youngstown and moved to Columbus area in 2012 with his wife Patricia. Ed is a father of 3 and a grandfather. In Youngstown Ed owned a wholesale sign manufacturing business and employed approx. 50 people. Ed and his wife retired, moved and currently live in Hilliard. Hobbies include hiking, sculpting and wood carving.

Wood: Unsure, (found-wood from Ohio)