Rochester mourns 22-year-old soldier

Cpl. Nelson killed in Iraq on Nov. 18

By Jeremy Pawloski | The Olympian • Published December 03, 2007

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ROCHESTER – Army Cpl. Christopher Nelson led by example, re-enlisting for a second combat deployment in Iraq this year because he wanted to help make a difference and teach less experienced fellow soldiers the right way to do things.

• Photos: Memorial Service for Corporal Christopher Nelson

He was a devoted husband who married his high school sweetheart. He called his wife every week from Iraq, but never described to her the dangers he faced on patrols because he didn't want his family to worry about him.

He loved life and loved his family, including seven siblings. He had a smile "that would go on for miles" and he cannot be replaced.

These were some of ways friends and family described Nelson during a memorial service Sunday that filled the Rochester High School gymnasium with close to 300 mourners.

Nelson died in Iraq on Nov. 18, one of three soldiers killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives as the soldiers handed out toys and other gifts to children in the Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

He was 22 years old.

"He's going to definitely be missed," Nelson's father, John Nelson, who works in a sawmill in Morton, said after Sunday's service. "No way to fill that void."

Remembering a friend

Robert Krouse, 22, showed off a new tattoo below his shoulder that reads, "In loving memory" and displays Nelson's dogtags. Krouse said he befriended Nelson while managing Rochester's high school football team. Nelson played linebacker.

Nelson's wife, Angela, 20, spoke about meeting her future husband when she was a sophomore at RHS. Angela's twin sister, Andrea, reminded Angela about how they met.

"You were walking in the commons one day, and you were like, 'he's cute,' " Andrea said.

Nelson enlisted in the Army in January 2004, shortly after graduating from high school. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Battalion of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) based at Fort Lewis.

John Nelson and Angela Nelson spoke of their constant worry for Chris during both of his combat deployments. On the night before his son left for his last combat assignment in August, John Nelson said he reminded his son alone about staying out of harm's way.