Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Henderson

Died June 17, 2007 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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35, of Hillsboro, Ore.; assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (Transition Team), Fort Riley, Kan.; died June 17 in Panjway, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Capt. Joshua E. Steele and Sgt. 1st Class John M. Hennen.

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Fort Riley reports 4 soldier deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan

The Associated Press

FORT RILEY, Kan. — Three Fort Riley soldiers serving in Afghanistan and one serving in Iraq have died of wounds they suffered in weekend bombings, the Army said Tuesday.

Officials of the northeast Kansas post identified those killed in Afghanistan as Capt. Joshua E. Steele, 26, of North Henderson, Ill.; Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Henderson, 35, of Hillsboro, Ore.; and Sgt. 1st Class John M. Hennen, 26, of Vinton, La.

The three men were wounded Sunday in Panjway when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. They were serving on a transition team assigned to Fort Riley-based 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

In Iraq, Spc. David Anthony Wilkey Jr., 22, was wounded Sunday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and died Monday. Relatives said Wilkey was born in Michigan, moved as a teenager to Elkhart, Ind., and had lived most recently with his wife and two children in Clay Center, Kan.

Wilkey was assigned to 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

Fort Riley officials said that as of Tuesday, 112 soldiers from the post have been killed while serving in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Oregon soldier dies in Afghanistan explosion

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — A soldier from Oregon has died in Afghanistan.

The Army said Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Henderson, 35, died June 17 along with two other soldiers in Panjway, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

He was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, in Fort Riley, Kan.

Family members said Henderson was born in Klamath Falls and grew up in Hillsboro.

Henderson is survived by a wife, Jennifer, and stepdaughter, Kayley, in Fort Lewis, Wash.

“Chris always had a smile on his face and never really had enemies because of this,” his wife said in a statement. “He was always willing to help people and many times went out of his way to help someone.

“Once on a deployment to Kosovo, he told me that a local family’s son had been killed and no one in the family knew how to tie a tie. Chris stepped up and tied the tie for them. This is the kind of man my husband is.”

Eighty-nine Oregonians or military members with strong ties to the state have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the count kept by Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office.

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Oregon soldier killed in Afghanistan

The Associated Press

Jim Henderson described his son, Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Henderson, as someone who was “very well organized.”

“If you could find a way to say ‘neat freak’ without saying neat freak, that would describe him,” the elder Henderson said.

His wife, Jennifer Henderson, agreed. “Things are never clean enough for him,” she said. “If it was clean, it wasn’t enough for him. It had to be done right.”

Henderson, 35, of Hillsboro, Ore., was killed June 17 by a roadside bomb in Panjway, Afghanistan. He was a 1991 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Riley, Wash.

The handsome blond teen was a diligent student, always did his homework and, of course, kept his room clean. He was a favorite with his high school girlfriends’ parents.

It wasn’t uncommon for the family to take a trip to a local gun club and practice trap shooting. “They showed an interest early on and we just went out as a family,” Jim Henderson said.

He was deployed to Florida during one of the hard-hitting hurricanes in the early 1990s and he also policed the streets in Panama City.

Henderson also is survived by his daughter, 8-year-old Kayley.