Army 1st Lt. Christopher N. Rutherford

Died July 2, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

25, of Newport, Ohio; assigned to Forward Support Group, 19th Engineer Battalion, Fort Knox, Ky.; died July 2 near Asad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

---

Fort Knox soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT KNOX, Ky. — A Fort Knox soldier from Ohio was killed in Iraq this week after a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle, the Army said July 5.

First Lt. Christopher N. Rutherford, 25, of Newport, Ohio, died July 2 near Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to the Forward Support Group, 19th Engineer Battalion, from Fort Knox.

He entered the military in December 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in August 2006.

Rutherford was a 2000 graduate of Frontier High School in New Matamoras, Ohio, where he played basketball and football.

“He was just a super young man,” recalled Frontier football coach Russ Morris. “He had the kind of personality where you just loved to have him around. He was definitely someone his parents can be proud of.”

Rutherford earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Marietta College in 2003 and later worked as a sports reporter for The Marietta Times, winning an Associated Press Society of Ohio first-place award for “Best Game Story” in May 2005.

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff in honor of Rutherford.