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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Army Spc. Christopher Gathercole
Died May 26, 2008 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
21, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died May 26 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from small-arms fire during combat operations.
Santa Rosa solider killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — The Pentagon announced a 21-year-old soldier from Santa Rosa was killed in Afghanistan.
Army Spc. Christopher Gathercole died Monday after being injured by small arms fire during combat in Ghazni. He had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Lewis, Wash.
According to special-operations command, Gathercole was a light machine gunner. He had earned a combat infantryman badge, a parachutist badge and the Ranger Tab, Army officials said.
Army Spc. Christopher Gathercole remembered
The Associated Press
Christopher Gathercole overcame a rough childhood as a ward of the state to graduate from high school and join the Army to make a better life for himself, said his older brother.
“He wanted to change himself, and he wanted to change the world around him,” said Edward Gathercole. “In his opinion, he was doing the highest civic duty possible.”
Gathercole, 21, of Santa Rosa, Calif., was killed May 26 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, by small arms fire. He was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.
The Gathercole brothers grew up in Santa Rosa, living primarily in foster homes from the time they were toddlers.
Christopher Gathercole spent his last year and a half in Santa Rosa at a treatment house for at-risk youth, where the staff said he had turned his life around.
“He was a tough kid, and I’m not surprised he went into the military,” said Wes Anderson, who went to school with Gathercole.
He recalled that his friend’s road through childhood was rocky, “not having his parents around,” but said “he made the best of what he had. “He was awesome.”
He also is survived by his father Edward Gathercole, and his mother, Catherine Haines.