Army Spc. Christopher P. Sweet

Died February 6, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Kahului, Hawaii; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 172d Separate Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany; died Feb. 6 in Kirkush, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

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Army Spc. Christopher P. Sweet remembered

The Associated Press

While on leave, Christopher P. Sweet would return home and help take his ailing father to the doctor.

“He was a very nice boy. He was helpful to the family,” said Cindy Natividad, who managed the housing where his family lived.

Sweet, 28, who grew up in Kahului, Hawaii, and lately called Springfield, Ill., home, died Feb. 6 in Kirkush in a non-combat incident. He was a 1999 high school graduate and was assigned to Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Natividad recalled Sweet as a skinny kid who put on weight during high school, but came back from the Army in good physical shape.

Sweet was a heavy-vehicle operator and a training specialist. He joined in January 2006 and completed basic training at Fort Sill.

His advanced individual training was completed at Fort Bliss, and his first assignment was to South Korea as a motor transport operator.

“His presence will be missed by all the soldiers of the Task Force Black Knights. His dedication to his duty, to his family and to his faith were an inspiration to us all,” the military said in a statement.

Sweet is survived by his mother, Christina, and father, Peter.