Army Spc. Christopher M. Wilson

Died March 29, 2007 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

---

24, of Bangor, Maine; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died March 29 in Korengal outpost, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from a rocket-propelled grenade explosion.

---

Soldier killed in Afghanistan feared never seeing daughter again

The Associated Press

BANGOR, Maine — A soldier who left behind a young daughter in Maine said his greatest fear was ``not coming home to his little girl.''

Army Spc. Christopher Wilson, 24, made the remark on the social networking Web site MySpace.com before being killed last week by a rocket-propelled grenade while deployed with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan.

On the Web, Wilson expressed his love for his 4-year-old daughter, Boston sports teams and his ``buddies back home.'' He said his goal for 2007 was to ``stay alive.''

Army records identified Wilson as being from Bangor, but most of his family ties are in Chicopee, Mass. His daughter, Jayden, is believed to be his only family member living in Maine, said Maj. Michael Backus, director of public affairs of the Maine National Guard.

While it appears Wilson spent most of his youth in Massachusetts, he identified Bangor as his hometown at the time of his Army enlistment in September 2002.

He completed the preliminary Army requirements at the military entrance processing station in Portland, said Ben Abel, media relations officer at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Three other soldiers were wounded in the attack that claimed Wilson's life on March 29 in Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan, officials said.

Gov. John Baldacci will order flags flown at half staff on the day of Wilson's funeral. Funeral services were undetermined as of April 4.

---

Soldier with Massachusetts ties killed in Afghanistan

The Associated Press

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Another soldier with New England ties has died in Afghanistan, the Army said.

Army Spc. Christopher Wilson, 24, died Thursday in Korengal Outpost in Afghanistan after he was injured in a rocket-propelled grenade explosion, the Defense Department said April 2. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum.

The Defense Department identified Wilson as being from Bangor, Maine, where his young daughter, Jayden, lives. The Republican of Springfield, Mass., reported that Wilson formerly lived in Chicopee and that his mother and stepfather, Ilka and Scott Halliday, still live there. His sister, Christina Evans, lives in Texas.

A family friend told The Republican she last saw Wilson in November, when he was home on leave.

``He was his usual outgoing self, but you could tell he had probably seen a lot of things ... he'd experienced people firing on him,'' Monique E. LaRiviere of South Hadley, Mass., said. ``But he wasn't cowering away from it. He kind of wanted to get back there with his buddies.''

Wilson had been in the Army since 2002 and was deployed to Afghanistan with his unit in March 2006, the Army said. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals.