Kevin Kryst has services ahead of burial at Arlington

Capt. Kevin M. Kryst, a 27-year-old helicopter pilot from West Bend, was killed in a mortar attack Dec. 18 in the Anbar province west of Baghdad. The older brother of a Marine Reservist who has also served in Iraq, Kryst is to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

One of the mourners at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, Jerry Beine of the Town of Polk, said he had chosen Kryst and his 23-year-old brother, Dan, for "hometown hero" awards given by the Modern Woodmen of America because of their military service during wartime.

"They are giving the ultimate sacrifice, some of them," he said.

Kryst, who was with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., had returned to Iraq earlier this month for his second tour there. He was hit by shrapnel during an attack on the Marine Corps' Camp Korean Village there, according to his family.

Kryst was a graduate of West Bend West High School and the University of Wisconsin.

His family has recommended memorial contributions to Fisher House, an organization that provides housing at major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers for families of injured or ill military personnel. For information, go to the group's Web site: www.fisherhouse.org.

From the Sentinel

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