LeeBernard Chavis slain in combat

Michael Chavis wants people to remember a few things about his older brother, LeeBernard: He was a Christian who loved the Lord. He was proud to be a soldier. And he had an unusual charisma.

"He had a way of making you see things his way," he said. "He could sell you a ketchup Popsicle if you were wearing white gloves."

Yesterday, the younger Chavis was fielding calls to his parents' house in Hampton, Va., two days after Airman 1st Class LeeBernard Emmanuel Chavis was killed while on duty as a turret gunner with the Iraqi police in the vicinity of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 824th Security Forces Squadron, based at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia.

LeeBernard Chavis, 21, joined the military two years ago and was on his second tour in Iraq. He was expected to return home in January before being deployed elsewhere, said his brother, 20.

"He was pretty jazzed" about coming home, his brother said. Michael Chavis added that he had been sending DVDs and CDs to his older brother but that they couldn't make up for his girlfriend's cooking, which he missed.

Michael Chavis said his brother planned to become a police officer. Their father, also named Michael, was retired from the Army, he said.

He said the family had not yet learned the details about his brother's death.

Capt. Dustin Hart, a spokesman at Moody, said Chavis was hit by enemy fire but he had no additional information. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," he said. "It was extremely sad news for the entire base."

Chavis was a 2003 graduate of Phoebus High School in Hampton. Staff members at the school described him as an outgoing, capable young man who played percussion in the school band and knew his own mind.

"He was a very opinionated young man," said Kevin Davis, an assistant principal. "If he felt like anything wasn't going his way, he made sure that his opinion was noted."

But Chavis also had a softer side. In a folder, the school has an essay he wrote about someone important in his life.

Davis read a few lines: "My father has meant a lot to me. His name is Michael Chavis. He means a lot to me because he has always watched over me with love and care. He gives me chance after chance to do the right thing."

From the Washington Post