'He chose to live with honor'

Morning Call ^ | 03/25/03 | Steve Esack and Matt Assad

[P.O.E.]

Christopher Seifert personified leadership, family and friends say.

In the way he spoke, the way others straightened up in his presence, and even the way he walked, Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert exuded one thing.

Leadership.

Whether leading college students to form a new fraternity, tutoring and treating high-schoolers with respect, attending services at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem or volunteering as a Big Brother, the Williams Township soldier was a person people felt compelled to follow — and proud to teach.

And that is how his widow and parents want the 101st Airborne officer to be remembered. Seifert was mortally wounded Sunday when a fellow soldier allegedly threw grenades and fired a shot into his lower back while he slept in a command tent in Kuwait, near the Iraqi border.

''He carried about him a caring grace and confidence. He chose to live with honor and integrity and died a hero,'' the Seifert family said in a statement they released Monday night in Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County.

''As a husband, father and only son, and an officer and citizen soldier, Chris had so much more to offer us. It is this very thought that is the source of much of our sorrow.''

Seifert leaves behind his wife, Terri, and 4-month-old son, Benjamin Scott. Seifert was the only child of Helen and Thomas Seifert, longtime residents of rural Buttermilk Road in Williams Township.

''The guy goes off to fight for his country, and some little punk throws a grenade and shoots Chris in the back,'' Capt. Mark Johnson, a 28-year Army intelligence officer and five-year friend, said in Kuwait after the attack. ''Come on, Chris deserved better than that.''

Seifert, who would have turned 28 next month, was a 1993 graduate of Wilson Area High School and a '97 graduate of Moravian College, Bethlehem. After transferring from the University of Pennsylvania, Seifert held a 3.5 grade point average at Moravian, while majoring in history, serving in ROTC, and participating in other activities. He then went directly into the Army.

On Monday, flags flew at half-staff outside municipal buildings and public schools in Wilson. A moment of silence was led by John Martuscelli, principal of Wilson Area High School. And throughout the Lehigh Valley, former high school and college instructors, church members and Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers were trying to come to grips with Seifert's death.

''I knew he was a really good student and all the teachers liked him,'' said Michelle Jumper, 16, a 10th-grader at the high school. ''We learned all about him in school today.''

While attending the small high school of about 700, Seifert ran track and cross country and played saxophone in the jazz, marching and concert bands. He was a member of the National Honor Society and served on student council while fitting in time for clubs: ski, environment, ecological, drama, tech crew, year book staff and Peer Helpers.

''He was full of 'yes sirs and no sirs' and that was rare for a college student,'' said Jack Ramsey, a professor of theater at Moravian, who supervised Seifert's work as a lighting technician for school plays.

''He was a founding father of our fraternity chapter and you couldn't help but respect him,'' said Dave Connor, the fraternity's division vice president and a friend of Seifert. ''His death brings the war way too close to home. This makes it all too real.''

Thousands of miles away Monday at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, Seifert's comrades held a memorial service.

Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 326th Engineer Battalion, who was taken into custody after the attack, has not been charged.

Akbar, 31, a native of California, was found hiding in a bunker following the assault at 1:30 a.m. Sunday Kuwait time (about 5:30 p.m. Saturday EST). He was described as a disgruntled soldier who made anti-American statements, said soldiers at the scene.

Sherry Orlando, a civilian spokeswoman at Fort Campbell, where the 101st Airborne is based, said on Monday that the Army had no new information on the investigation. Orlando said she has not gotten official word on when Seifert's body will be flown to the United States, perhaps to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, home to the military's only mortuary on the East Coast. She said base personnel remained shocked by Seifert's death.

''When a soldier deploys from our division they're aware of the risk when facing enemy forces, in this case the Iraqis,'' Orlando said. ''But when it involves one of your own soldiers, that's when it catches us by surprise.''

Vincent Vicari, a Bethlehem Township veteran of the 101st Airborne Division and an aide to the legendary Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe during World War II, knows that all too well.

''When I think about it, I cry because you never expect one of our own men would do this,'' said Vicari, who met Seifert in January at a cocktail party at Fort Campbell.

Seifert grew up in the same house his father did. Terri was at the house when an Army lieutenant knocked at 7 a.m. Sunday to officially deliver the news that her college sweetheart, the Seiferts' only child, had been killed.

A day later, this sleepy country road of a few farm houses buzzed with national media, but little else.

The family had left before the arrival of most media and five delivery trucks that slowly crept up the dirt driveway to drop off baskets of flowers.

The family had gone to Lower Makefield Township, where Terri's parents live in a house decorated with scores of American flags. Unbeknownst to the Seiferts, Rhonda and Katie Weidner were delivering a pan of baked ziti to their Williams Township home and Williams Community Church was erecting a sign: Our prayers are with the Seifert family.

Rhonda Weidner, a nearby neighbor, said she does not know the family, but she just wanted to do something to help. ''It's just this community is one that has always done things for the neighbors,'' she said.

Chris Seifert might have been the only child of Thomas and Helen, but he had a little brother in David for three years, said Maryjean deSandes, executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley.

''College students usually last one year, and when they are finished with their service, they leave,'' deSandes said. ''Chris went the extra mile; he helped with his schoolwork and wrote to David no matter where he was in the world.''

Seifert was named college Big Brother of the year in 1996.

Ann Claussen, a director of student activities at Moravian College, remembers ''the spark'' between Chris and Terri when they met at the student union. Sporting his fatigues during his senior year, Claussen said, Seifert would encourage students to join the ROTC, while Terri sat at a nearby table, representing the student government association.

''It seems like there was an attachment there,'' Claussen said Monday evening. ''Terri would come in the office and say a few things about Chris. Soon enough, they got closer.''

They were married May 29, 1999, at the Old Chapel in Bethlehem. Their son was born Nov. 7.

Memorial services have not yet been scheduled. However, his family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley, 33 N. 15th St., Allentown, 18102.

Army Capt. Christopher S. Seifert

Reporters Joe Nixon, Tom Coombe, Nancy Averett, William J. Ford, Nicole Mertz, Scott Kraus and Pervais Shallwani contributed to this report, as did the Associated Press and Scott Calvert of the Baltimore Sun, a Tribune Publishing Co., who is embedded at Camp Pennsylvania.

[P.O.E.]

I hope the Morning Call won't mind if I make an exception in this case and not excerpt these articles.

Seifert Family Statement

The statement issued about 6:30 p.m. Monday by the Seifert family at the Lower Makefield Township home where the parents of Terri Seifert, Christopher's wife, live:

''In some ways Chris Seifert was like the thousands of other soldiers serving our country and heroically fighting for the promise of freedom. They all possess uncommon courage and spirit and have provided a blanket of protection for which we are eternally grateful.

''And in so many other ways Chris proved he was one of a kind. He carried about him a caring grace and confidence. He chose to live with honor and integrity and died a hero."

''As a husband, father and only son, and an officer and citizen soldier, Chris had so much more to offer us. It is this very thought that is the source of much of our sorrow. We feel the void left by a remarkable life ended too soon. For the loving son that he was. For the joyful way he embraced fatherhood. For the husband he was so completely. For the laughter not yet shared. For the time that will never be."

''While healing and comfort are paramount for our family right now, we do understand that other families are impacted as well. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the coalition forces' families who have loved ones in harm's way. We hope that they will never know this pain. And if they do, we want them to know that they don't have to face it alone."

''We also wanted to take a moment to thank all of those who have offered kind thoughts and prayers for our family. At a time like this it gives us a measure of comfort to know Chris touched so many people, with love, and will be missed by so many.''

[Dr. Scarpetta]

BUMP

Do you live in the Lehigh Valley? This is such an outrage for such a fine, young man to die like this.

[P.O.E.]

I live in the northern reaches of Northampton County, aka, the "Slate Belt".

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I'm in Moore Twp., also in Northampton County.

[Lauratealeaf]

Thanks so much for posting this article. Captain Seifert was such a fine young officer, father, husband and son. This is so tragic for his family. I hope the man who did this to him gets the death penalty.

[Redbob]

OK, where does it say that Asan Muhammed Akmed Akbar was a traitorous murderous muslim scum?

[BeAllYouCanBe]

Re: Akbar.

It is strange how he has been santitized by the media. It is my feeling that we must speak out about the traitors in our midst. The news media are to POLTITCALLY CORRECT to acknowledge the truth about why this crime happened.

[hattend]

OK, where does it say that Asan Muhammed Akmed Akbar was a traitorous murderous muslim scum?

BTTT

[P.O.E.]

For some reason, the picture on top has changed (I guess the paper updated for a new edition)

Here's the original picture:

[P.O.E.]

If I may request the picture at the top of the article be removed?

It seems the link I used keeps getting refreshed by the newspaper. They are inapropos to the thread, some more than others. I posted the original picture above.

[EverOnward]

One of our best has sacrificed his all. His family will mourn his loss the rest of their lives. May God bless this dear family. So sad.