Local Army man, Captain Chris Seifert, victim of grenade attack [Easton, PA]

Express-Times ^ | Jimmy Miller

[Dr. Scarpetta]

A career soldier who grew up in Williams Township and earned the respect of teachers and friends was killed Sunday in Kuwait, allegedly by a fellow U.S. soldier.

Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of the Army's 101st Airborne Division died when live grenades were tossed into tents at the division's command center, an Army spokesman said.

Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 326th Engineer Battalion is being held, but hasn't been charged.

News of Seifert's death spread quickly Sunday night throughout the Wilson Area School District -- where he ran cross country in high school and played saxophone in the jazz band -- and Bethlehem, where he majored in history at Moravian College.

"All I remember about Chris Seifert is he was just a fantastic kid," said Bill Curnow, who directed the Wilson Area High School Band while Seifert was a member.

"He was an outstanding student, a really, really great kid. He was band president and well-liked by all his peers."

Family members gathered to mourn Sunday afternoon at the home of Seifert's parents, Helen and Thomas Seifert, on Buttermilk Road. They declined to speak to the media.

John Ahern, a cousin of Seifert's through marriage, met visitors in the family's front yard and released a statement:

"The family is obviously devastated by the loss and appreciates all the support of family and friends, and would ask the media to allow them to mourn their loss in private.

"We would ask that the nation continue to pray for all of our troops that are in harm's way."

Ahern would not say when or how the family found out about Seifert's death, but he said the family would have more to say about their son at some point in the future.

Seifert was married to Theresa Flowers-Seifert, who graduated from Moravian in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in political science, the same year her husband graduated with a bachelor's degree in history.

The couple lived in Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, a military base in Kentucky where the 101st Airborne Division is based. She couldn't be reached for comment Sunday night.

Seifert got interested in joining the military in college, friends said, and was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps at Lehigh University because Moravian College does not have an ROTC program.

Moravian College President Ervin Rokke, a retired Air Force general, was in Washington, D.C., on Sunday and could not be reached for comment. However, he released a statement through a spokesman:

"We're a small college and a small community, and this is going to be felt," Rokke said. "We're just proud to have such an alumnus from Moravian College. And we extend our deepest sympathy to his family and closest friends."

Moravian history professor Robert Stinson said he remembers Seifert as a respectful and quiet student.

"He was one of these very respectful people. Everything was 'Yes, sir,' and 'No, sir,' " Stinson said.

"Not that other students are disrespectful, but our relationships with students are often very casual and friendly."

Stinson described Seifert as a handsome, quiet-spoken young man and a dedicated, focused student who was always smiling.

"I liked him," Stinson said. "I was always glad to see him, not because he was always respectful, but he always had this smile on his face."

In addition to wearing shined-up boots, Stinson said, Seifert would wear his camouflage Army fatigues to class, as ROTC students often do.

"He was glad that he was in the ROTC program," Stinson said. "This wasn't something that he was doing to get some money for school. He thought that it would be a good line of work."

Mike Richardson of Easton was one of Seifert's closest friends in high school. They ran cross country together and both played in the school band, Richardson said. Seifert graduated in 1993 from Wilson, two years after Richardson.

"It's definitely a shock. You know that war isn't a pleasant thing, but at the same time you don't expect to hear it's somebody you know," Richardson said.

"It catches you off guard, no matter how much you know it could be a possibility."

Richardson described Seifert as "a lot of fun to be around."

"He always had a joke to lighten the mood," Richardson said.

Sandy Bonney's daughter Anne was in the high school band with Seifert, and they became close friends. Both ended up choosing careers in the military. Anne Bonney ended up at West Point, where Siefert once visited her.

"I think that's when he really started to get interested in the Army," said Sandy Bonney, who lives in West Easton.

For a while, Anne Bonney and Siefert were stationed at the same base in Germany.

"That was really a coincidence that he was over there. When she got there, he showed her around. He took care of her for a little bit," Bonney said.

Bonney, who described Seifert as "wonderful," said she had been trying to contact her daughter on Sunday but was unsuccessful.

"I just can't believe it. I expected to hear some names (of casualties) that I knew from my daughter being at West Point. I just never expected that Siefert would be one of them," she said.

Williams Township neighbor Ann Keeney, 45, said she remembered Seifert growing up as "happy-go-lucky, very outgoing."

"He could get along with people if they were elderly or little, he could get along with all ages," Keeney said.

John Freidl of Williams Township went to high school and college with Seifert and described him as "a genuine nice kid."

"It's a shock. It's a shock that someone I knew is dead because of this war," Freidl said. "You can't expect something like that."

William Kuchinski, chairman of the Department of Military Science at Lehigh University, said Seifert was well-regarded among his ROTC peers, although Kuchinski did not personally know him.

"We knew him as a great cadet," Kuchinski said.

As an ROTC senior, Seifert earned a demanding and prestigious job as the second-in-command of training operations. He was also the recipient of "quite a few" awards, Kuchinski said.

Seifert is not the first area serviceman to die fighting in the Persian Gulf.

Marine Sgt. Garett A. "Gary" Mongrella, 25, of Hope Township was among the first ground fatalities in Operation Desert Storm during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Mongrella was a victim of friendly fire during a battle with Iraqi soldiers for the small border town of Khafji in Saudi Arabia. Mongrella was a graduate of Lenape Valley High School.

Army Specialist William C. Brace, 24, of Fountain Hill was killed in a helicopter crash in northern Saudi Arabia in early 1991.

Brace was crew chief aboard the Chinook helicopter that was returning from a mission delivering Iraqi prisoners of war when it crashed into a tower. Brace was a graduate of Nazareth Area High School.

( Staff writers Joe Carlson, Gregg W. Bortz, Tony Nauroth, Wayne Fishman and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

[truthkeeper]

Tears in my eyes. BTTT

[Physicist]

Mrs. P. is from the Easton area. This does hit close to home.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Ping*

News of Seifert's death spread quickly Sunday night throughout the Wilson Area School District -- where he ran cross country in high school and played saxophone in the jazz band -- and Bethlehem, where he majored in history at Moravian College.

"All I remember about Chris Seifert is he was just a fantastic kid," said Bill Curnow, who directed the Wilson Area High School Band while Seifert was a member.

"He was an outstanding student, a really, really great kid. He was band president and well-liked by all his peers."

[Lauratealeaf]

Thanks for posting this. Captain Seifert was his parent's only child. He and his wife have a four month old baby. This really hits me because he is the same age as my son who is also a Captain in the Engineers. So tragic and so maddening.

[MEG33]

I pray for those in grief. To lose such a fine man in this way is so cruel.May we prosecute the perp to the fullest extent.

[PGalt]

Thanks for your post. BTTT.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

This really hits me because he is the same age as my son who is also a Captain in the Engineers. So tragic and so maddening.

God bless your son.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

May we prosecute the perp to the fullest extent.

Have you seen a full-faced picture of this perp yet?

[NewYorker]

Tears and prayers for this fine American and his family.

[dennisw]

This wonderful guy dies while it looks like his killer will be breathing for years. Justice can be quick in the military yet we refuse to hang the traitor/murderer as soon as possible. Why do we let criminals linger for years?

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Mrs. P. is from the Easton area. This does hit close to home.

Yes, it does hit close to home. It was so shocking to hear this news that I had to tune out from the war last night. Such a fine young man.

[dennisw]

ON WATCH: A soldier standing guard points his rifle at Akbar as he kneels in handcuffs

 

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2003/03/23/37583.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News

"He wouldn't try to take nobody's life,"Asan Akbar's mother, Quran Bilal, told The Tennessean of Nashville from her home in Baton Rouge, La."He's not like that. He said the only thing he was going out there to do was blow up the bridges."

The Los Angeles Times reported in Monday's newspaper that soldiers after the attack overheard Akbar say:"You guys are coming into our countries and you're going to rape our women and kill our children."

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I read that Akbar's birth name was Mark FIDEL Kools.

[MEG33]

Sounds like a Louie convert.

[Monty22]

Where's the execution?

I bet we'll see mandatory islam-acceptance classes along with official ass-in-the-air allah worship now instead.

[dennisw]

Quran (Koran) Bilal is his mother's kooky name.

[SpinyNorman]

One good thing: if the alleged perp, Sgt. Asan Akbar, is found guilty, the military doesn't have any qualms about using the firing squad. I am sure that there will be no shortage of volunteers. Probably have to have a raffle.

[SpinyNorman]

One good thing: if the alleged perp, Sgt. Asan Akbar, is found guilty, the military doesn't have any qualms about using the firing squad. I am sure that there will be no shortage of volunteers. Probably have to have a raffle.

[boxerblues]

my prayers go out to this family, this didn't need to happen