Ohio soldier buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va. — The mother and two younger brothers of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq knelt in the rain before his wooden casket at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 7 to say goodbye.

About 50 family members and friends stood nearby as Maj. Douglas Fenton said a prayer for Army Spc. Brett T. Christian, whom Fenton called an American hero.

“I have a request to make of all of you and that is when time permits, write your memories of Brett and send them to his family,” Fenton said.

Christian, 27, of North Royalton in suburban Cleveland, was driving a troop truck in Mosul, Iraq, on July 23 when his convoy was ambushed by rocket-propelled grenades. In Cleveland, it was still July 22, his mother’s 47th birthday.

Tess Christian, a self-employed multimedia artist, said her son always wanted to be a soldier and enlisted before he finished high school.

Six soldiers carried his coffin to the graveside while a lone bugler played ‘Taps.’

Christian’s mother was presented a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart by Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeil, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps.

Christian is one of 10 Ohio soldiers killed in Iraq since the war started March 19. A memorial service for him was held last Saturday in Broadview Heights, a Cleveland suburb.