Post by Todd B on Jan 2, 2007 20:56:41 GMT -5
Condolences go out to the Messer families......
Local soldier dies in Iraq
By: Michelle Swartz story updated January 02. 2007 2:06PM
www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070102/NEWS01/101020032
A local soldier fell victim to an Iraq bombing.
Army Sgt. Christopher P. Messer, 28, of Raisinville Township was killed in action Wednesday while serving his second tour of duty in Iraq. He was killed southwest of Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated.
He was one of two soldiers who died from wounds in the blast.
He is survived by his wife, Amie, and a 2-year-old daughter.
Sgt. Messer attended Ida High School and graduated in 1997 from Dundee Alternative High School. He was raised in Dundee Township and had just recently moved to Raisinville Township.
Brenda Perkey, a neighbor of Army Sgt. Messer in Dundee Township, was devastated by the news.
"He was a well-liked boy," she said this morning. "His family moved here when he was about 8 years old. All the boys in the neighborhood hung out together. When you would see one of them, you would see them all."
She said he signed up for military duties shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"When things started happening, that's when he decided to enter," Ms. Perkey said. "Sept. 11 had a lot to do with it. He thought he could make a difference."
Sgt. Messer was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team based in Fort Drum, N.Y.
He was a life member of Monroe Post 1138, Veterans of Foreign Wars. According to Marshall Westover, post commander, Sgt. Messer became a member in October, 2005.
Family members declined to comment last week when contacted by The Evening News.
He is the seventh soldier with Monroe County connections to die in the war. The others include Army Pfc. Nicholas J. Greer of Monroe; Marine Pfc. Juan Garza of Temperance; Army Pfc. Dennis J. Miller Jr. of LaSalle; Army Capt. Lowell T. Miller II, who had just moved to Monroe from the Flint area; Marine Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, whose father lives in Frenchtown Township, and Army Master Sgt. William L. Payne, who was a Monroe native.