Christopher Speer
| Christopher Speer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Christopher James Speer |
| Born |
September 9, 1973 Denver, Colorado |
| Died | August 6, 2002 (aged 28) Ramstein Air Base, Germany |
| Buried | Pinehurst, North Carolina |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1992–2002 |
| Rank | Sergeant First Class |
| Unit | 1st SFOD-D otherwise known as Delta Force |
| Awards |
Soldier's Medal Bronze Star Purple Heart |
| Relations | Todd Speer (brother) Tabitha Speer (widow) Taryn and Tanner Speer (children) |
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Christopher James Speer (September 9, 1973 – August 6, 2002) was a U.S. Army combat medic and an armed member of a special operations team who was fatally wounded during a skirmish in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. Speer, who was not wearing a helmet at the time because the mission called for indigenous clothing, suffered a head wound from a grenade and succumbed to his injuries approximately two weeks later.
Speer enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 1992 and after initial training as a combat medic, was assigned to the Army Hospital at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, until 1994. He received 18 Delta combat medic training at the Joint Special Operations University at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
Speer was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group upon completing training as a Special Forces medic in 1997. As part of the 1st SFOD-D known as Delta Force which is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he deployed to Afghanistan in Spring 2002 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
On July 27, 2002, Christopher Speer and a group of four other soldiers on reconnaissance patrol were injured during a firefight upon attacking a building in Khost Province, Afghanistan. SFC Christopher Speer was part of a squad assigned the task of going through the ruins of the building after it had been destroyed.
The injured Speer was evacuated by air to Bagram Air Force Base and then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he died on August 6, 2002.
The incident received widespread attention as fifteen-year-old Toronto-born Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen with Egyptian and Palestinian ancestry, was captured and subsequently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay as Speer's killer. Khadr later pleaded guilty to, among other crimes, the murder of Speer by throwing a hand grenade during the firefight.
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