Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher R. Brevard

Died March 16, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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31, of Phoenix; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died March 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit.

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Slain paratrooper treasured his daughters

The Associated Press

WASILLA, Alaska — A Fort Richardson paratrooper killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq treasured his two young daughters.

“His children were his life,” Amber Brevard said March 19, shortly after the Army announced the death of her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Brevard, 31.

He was killed by a roadside bomb March 16 in Baghdad. Gov. Sarah Palin ordered state flags be lowered to half-staff next week in his honor.

Amber Brevard, 35, said her husband was a fun-loving man, an avid outdoorsman and an expert handyman who rebuilt two VW Beetles.

She described her husband as a daredevil who loved motorcycles, skydiving, four-wheeling and snowmobiling.

“He was very adventurous,” she said. “He never liked to sit still.”

But above all, he was a father who treasured his two daughters, Emily, 9, and Jessica, 7, she said.

Brevard was born in Missouri, grew up in Tucson, Ariz., and moved to Alaska in the early 1990s with his parents, she said.

He graduated in 1994 from Anchorage’s Dimond High School, where he was a member of JROTC. He enlisted shortly afterward, for the adventure, she said.

Services haven’t been planned yet, she said.

Another paratrooper was hurt in the roadside bombing, and was taken to a military hospital in Iraq.

Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.