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Memories of a Stryker

May-26-2008 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

The family of Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson is profiled in the following article. This is a long piece, so click through to read the full article.

By Erik Lacitis, Seattle Times

ROCHESTER, Thurston County — It's been a bit over six months since Cpl. Christopher J. Nelson was killed in Iraq by a suicide bomber.

This little town of 1,800 just south of Olympia, with pastures and small family farms, was his home.

Some 300 people turned out last fall for the 22-year-old man's memorial service at Rochester High School. He was the community's first local casualty from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And so far he has been the only one.

Six months later, on this Memorial Day, time for those closest to Nelson just seems to go in slow motion — for Nelson's widow, the rest of his family, his friends.

Nelson was among more than 100 soldiers from Washington who have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan, not counting the many others who were based at military installations here but came from other states.

In peacetime, this holiday, first officially observed in 1868 to memorialize the nation's war dead, had become for many simply an unofficial excuse to usher in the summer.

It was that way, too, for Nelson's family. A time to relax, maybe have a barbecue.

This year, there is just sadness. [...]


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