Army Spc. Christopher T. Neiberger

Died August 6, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Gainesville, Fla.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; died Aug. 6 in Baghdad of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device.

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Gainesville soldier, 22, killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A 22-year-old soldier was killed in Iraq from injuries suffered by an improvised explosive device, his family and the military said August 7.

Spc. Christopher T. Neiberger, 22, of Gainesville, died August 6, the Department of Defense said. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany.

Neiberger was born in the Bronx, but was raised in Gainesville, his sister, Ami Neiberger-Miller told The Associated Press. Her brother graduated from Gainesville High School in 2003 and attended Florida State University for two years before joining the Army in 2005, Neiberger-Miller said.

“He always wanted to be a soldier. He was the kind of person who grew up loving to play with things that crackled and exploded,” Neiberger-Miller said. “He was very drawn to the military.”

Neiberger had been in Iraq since September 2006 and was serving a 15-month tour, his sister said.

The soldier, known by family members as “the master of one-liners” was considering going to West Point and making the military his career, Neiberger-Miller said.

“He was very much in the moment,” Neiberger-Miller said. “He was proud to be a soldier.”

Besides his sister, Neiberger is survived by two brothers, his father, Richard, and his mother, Mary.

A memorial service will be held August 12 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville. Neiberger will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., his sister said.