Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Girard Walsh
Born Oct. 11, 1975 in Kansas City, MO
Died Sep. 4, 2006 in Al Anbar Province, Iraq
Christopher served as a medic with the Navy Reserves, following a long history of family service to others; his grandfather and uncle were firefighters and his father a medic in the Vietnam War. Christopher grew up in Shawnee, where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. In 1994 he graduated from Bishop Miege High School and moved to St. Louis when his father was transferred there. He was certified as an EMT and Paramedic in 2001 and began working for the St. Louis Fire Department. Christopher loved his work and worked closely with his teammates. He really cared for the people of St. Louis. His desire to receive more experience led him to join the Navy Reserves. He deployed to Iraq with the Navy Reserve’s 24th Regiment, 4th Marine Division based at Bridgetown, Missouri, with the intent of becoming a firefighter when he returned from his tour of duty. He was killed in action while conducting combat operations. Christopher treated all wounded while deployed, regardless if they were soldiers or citizens. One of the citizens he treated was a little girl named Mariam. Her mother called out to a group of soldiers one night after an IED exploded and Christopher was there to aid the wounded. Mariam was very sick with a rare intestinal disorder and Christopher began treating her through clandestine visits, some during the middle of the night. To honor Christopher after he was killed, his fellow soldiers worked with a mission to get Mariam brought to America for treatment. Christopher was survived by his mother Maureen; two brothers and a sister. His father passed away in 2004. They are buried side-by-side at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas.
The Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Girard Walsh by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
