Burial to be at Fort Leavenworth for Christopher Walsh -- Navy medic killed in Iraq

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Christopher G. Walsh who died in Iraq’s Anbar Province, according to the Defense Department. Walsh, 30, was conducting combat operations at the time as part of Multi National Corps Iraq.

A native of St. Louis, Walsh was assigned to the Navy Reserve 3rd Battalion, 24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division out of Bridgetown, Mo.

Walsh joined the Reserve in March 2003. In his civilian job, he worked as an emergency medical technician for the St. Louis fire department since April 2001.

Walsh had followed a family history of firefighting and military service and pushed to be sent to Iraq, those who knew him told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He said he was a little scared,” said Timothy Kirchoff, a friend and firefighter who worked with Walsh for several years. “But he wanted to go over there. He basically wanted to expand his training and experience. He wanted to be on the front lines.”

Kirchoff said Walsh was a talented EMT and partner in a profession that requires trust.

“He was by far the best EMT I ever worked with,” said Kirchoff, who was a paramedic until heading for firefighter training shortly before Walsh left for Iraq. “He really cared for the people of the city and wanted to work for them. And when something went wrong, I knew he was there with me.”

Walsh grew up in Shawnee, Kan., and moved to the St. Louis area after he graduated from high school, when his father was transferred to the area.

A grandfather and an uncle had been firefighters, and his father was a medic in Vietnam, said Walsh’s sister, Erin Watson. She said her brother planned to become a firefighter after returning from the Middle East.

Mark Rauss, a fire department EMT, wasn’t surprised when Walsh joined the Navy Reserves.

“He was an honorable person, and he went on to serve his country honorably,” Rauss said. “He gave his life doing something he believed in — serving other people.”

Services for Walsh will be held in Kansas, Watson said. A brother who is serving in Iraq with the Marines will escort his body back to the United States. Burial will be at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Read the rest at the Navy Times

Friends, family recall corpsman’s dedication

Christopher Walsh’s family and friends said it apparently was in his blood to want to save lives.

His grandfather and an uncle had been firefighters. His father was a medic in Vietnam. Walsh, a 30-year-old Shawnee native, was an emergency medical technician in St. Louis.

Walsh took those skills to Iraq last winter, but lost his own life this week while serving as a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to a Marine detachment.

“At least I know he was doing what he wanted to do,” said Tim Kirchoff, Walsh’s partner at the St. Louis Fire Department. “He believed in what was going on over there, and he wanted to help.”

On Monday, Walsh’s convoy was struck by a roadside bomb, according to family and fire department officials. A U.S. Department of Defense statement Wednesday said his unit was conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province.

Loved ones gathered Wednesday at his mother’s home in Overland Park while his sister, Erin Watson, answered condolence phone calls. Funeral plans were pending as the family waited for Walsh’s brother, Patrick Walsh, a Marine in Iraq, to escort his body back to the United States.

Walsh grew up in Shawnee and was a 1994 graduate of Bishop Miege High School. He worked on the school paper and played football as a freshman and sophomore. Classmate and former pro football player Dan Dercher remembered Walsh as a pleasant guy, but one who had a competitive streak.

“He was really hard on himself when he played sports,” Dercher said. “He turned really red when he didn’t win, but … he was a really, really nice person. In the halls he always had a smile on his face.”

Black bunting was draped over the front of every St. Louis fire station and flags flew at half-staff in Walsh’s memory. Earlier in the week, colleagues gathered at the bowling alley where they held Walsh’s going-away party last winter

Read the rest at the Kansas City Star

Related Link:
St. Louis City EMT Killed In Iraq (Christopher Walsh)
Note: Due to problems with blogger we were unable to post news of the fallen for the last 10 days. This post is part of the update from that period.