Staff Sgt Christopher Michael Rudzinski
Born: August 29, 1981 in Augsburg, Germany
Died: October 16, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Rudzinski of Rantoul, Illinois was born into a military family and spent his early years in Germany, Arizona and Washington before his family settled in Illinois where he was a graduate of Rantoul High School in 1999. While there he participated in the school band and in school musicals. Chris joined the Army in July of 1999, enlisting as an Armor Crewman and was proudly sworn into service by his father. He deployed in 1999, to Kosovo with the 1st Armored Division, and again in 2003. Near the end of his deployment, he became ill with leishmaniasis and was medically evacuated to Walter Reed Army Hospital for treatment. After re-enlisted as a military police officer, he was assigned to Germany where he met his future wife, Caroline and he later deployed to Iraq on his third tour, this time training and mentoring Iraqi policemen. While home on leave during the tour, he and Caroline were married. In the fall of 2008, they became the parents of a son, Ryan. His Awards and Decorations include, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, the National Defense Service Medal, the Kosovo Campaign Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Action Badge, the Driver’s Badge, and the German Schutzenschneur Badge in Gold. Christopher had a love of cars, fishing, video games, friends, family and Walt Disney World. He leaves his wife, Caroline, son Ryan, his parents, Michael and Natalie Rudzinski, his sister, Annette, three brothers, Jordan, Christian and Alexander Rudzinski. He died at age 28 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
Army
293rd Military Police Company
385th Military Police Battalion
16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne)
Fort Stewart, Georgia
Burial is at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rantoul, Illinois
The Staff Sgt Christopher Michael Rudzinski by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
