AV grad lives sky soldier's life in Iraq: 19-year-old veteran

Chris Williams went to Fort Benning's famous school for Army paratroopers and earned his wings a few months out of high school with the required five jumps. His sixth jump was at night, into Iraq. Williams graduated Antelope Valley High School, the class of 2002, with pretty good grades. He belonged to the Junior ROTC program there, and he liked it. He's still got friends at the school, though most of his friends now are in the Army.

"I was 18 when we jumped into northern Iraq," he said. "It was my first night jump."

He returned home on leave to bring one of his friends home, Pfc. John D. Hart, 20, of Bedford, Mass. Hart was killed along with Lt. David Bernstein, 24, of Phoenixville, Pa., on Oct. 18, during an ambush in northern Iraq, near Kirkuk.

Williams can recite the details with matter-of-fact intimacy because he was in the ambushed Humvee, the last of three in a three-vehicle patrol. A maddening exchange of automatic fire punctuated by rocket-propelled grenades.

"Night turned into day," Williams said. "I saw John Hart open up with his weapon." Then, Hart was shot, and Williams believed he was dead, then and there. Through Williams' night vision goggles, he watched an Apache attack helicopter arrive to provide backup and security.

"I tried to put a tourniquet on Lt. Bernstein." Bernstein, according to Army records, died from blood loss suffered while trying to rescue an injured driver.

Williams' piece of the war, that of a private soldier and infantry grunt, with the 508th Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, began when he stepped into the windstream out the back end of a C-17 Globemaster on March 26.

He hit the ground and rolled in the muddy dark, sometime after midnight, and began marching, pointing his grenade launcher in "the direction the planes were flying."

By daylight, he and other sky soldiers were traversing green farming fields of northern Iraq, moving to secure the Bashur Airfield. They did that, and a couple of days later, more C-17s were landing, carrying M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

The Kurdish people were friendly. Along with Special Force soldiers, Kurdish fighters from the PDK greeted the paratroopers with open arms. The people in the area liked them, too, and thanked them for coming in to vanquish Saddam Hussein.

As the fallen Pfc. Hart's father put it in an interview with his hometown newspaper, Hart figured that about 90% of the people in the area supported the GIs and the other 10% were out to kill them.

By Williams' account, he's earned the Combat Infantry Badge recently bestowed on "Eleven Bravo" (infantry) grunts of the brigade. He's coped through about a half-dozen firefights, a number involving the RPGs, the devastating rocket grenades that are stockpiled across Iraq in unfriendly hands.

The "positive stuff?" There is no shortage of it. The paratroopers arrived "to help restore government to the area … like the police," Williams said.

Williams, who wants to pursue a career in law enforcement when his enlistment is up, relished working with Iraqi police who are being trained by the Americans.

"They are great guys, and they are funny," he said. No absence of warmth in Williams' smile.

Keeping Arab Iraqis separated from Kurds, and keeping the two groups from moving into each others' real estate, has been a principal concern in northern Iraq. There has been less violence in the region than the notorious "Sunni Triangle" surrounding Bagdhad, but when the firefights, assaults and ambushes are counted one event at a time, that difference may seem insignificant to the soldiers doing the fighting.

"We stick together," Williams said. "We know we're Airborne, so we believe we have more discipline. We are a special group.

"The guys I'm with? We will fight to the end," he said. "We're like a family. … A dysfunctional family, but there were tears when I left."

Williams, asserting his status as "just a private," does not pretend to know the origins of the shadowy gunmen who are attacking American soldiers. Foreign terrorists or remnants of the Saddam regime, "they are just guys with guns to us. Guns, grenades, mortars, RPGs."

"Anybody points anything at us, they are going down," he said. "We have pulled so many RPGs and AKs (assault rifles) out of cars, I can't even count them."

As for the environment, Williams smiles cheerfully and says, "I only passed out from the heat once. I was on patrol."

On the eve of Veterans Day, he contemplated a trip to Las Vegas, leaving the front porch swing of his family's immaculate home on Lancaster's east side near the National Soccer Center.

"I think civilians think veterans are stereotyped as some kind of mean, hard guys," he said. "Veterans are some of the gentlest people you'll ever meet.

"Heck, I am a veteran … a combat veteran," he said. "And I'm only 19 years old. It seems weird."

Beautiful post. Thank you, Ben.

~~~~~~

"We stick together," Williams said. "We know we're Airborne, so we believe we have more discipline. We are a special group.

"The guys I'm with? We will fight to the end," he said. "We're like a family. … A dysfunctional family, but there were tears when I left."

~~~~~~~~

Private Chris Williams, 19 year-old Veteran, indeed.

Cadet David R. Bernstein

Pfc. John D. Hart

David R. Bernstein, formerly of Phoenixville, PA, was killed in Taza, Iraq, when enemy forces ambushed his patrol using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, according to information provided by the Department of Defense.

Bernstein was a first lieutenant in the Army’s 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade, assigned to Camp Ederle, Italy.

Often referred to as Europe’s 911 squad, the battalion is famous for its quick reactions, most often carried out by parachuting into war zones. Bernstein was dropped into northern Iraq at the beginning of the war and had remained there since, according to his father, Richard Bernstein.

"He was an exceptional man and a wonderful person," his father said. "And he will be missed terribly."

David Bernstein was the valedictorian at Phoenixville in 1997. He graduated fifth in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point four years later, his father said.

"He felt very indebted to this country for what it has done for him, and for everyone," his father said. "He wanted to serve his country, and he did."

Bernstein attended Phoenixville his junior and senior years after he and his parents, Richard and Gail, moved to the area from Austin, Texas.

His parents have since moved to Knoxville, Tenn.

While attending Phoenixville, Bernstein played football and excelled on the swim team. He chose the military as a career and never looked back, according to his father.

"It was a decision he made, and we respected it," he said.

Bernstein last spoke to his family a week ago on the telephone. He was in good spirits, even though there was someplace else he would rather be.

"He would rather have been home," his father said. "But he was doing his job. First, he was over there to win the war; now they are busy trying to help rebuild Iraq."

BEDFORD, MA -- Army Pfc. John Hart, 20, was killed in ambush Saturday night in Iraq. He is the son of Brian and Alma Hart of Bedford.

Hart grew up in Bedford and attended Bedford High School where he played lacrosse and was a member of the rifle team and Jr. ROTC.

"He liked to be with a big group of friends, and the group liked him," said his 16 year-old sister, Rebecca. Hart's other sister, Elizabeth, is 13. "He was a good big brother."

Hart's father, Brian, said they talked to him just last week, and he sounded concerned about recent activity in his area.

He felt their Humvees needed more armor, for example. Also, their living conditions were not good. Brian Hart said his son didn't have the right body armor, and the soldiers were given winter desert fatigues because the Army didn't have enough summer fatigues.

Hart's patrol, part of the Fourth Infantry Division, was hit with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in a town called Taza, near the northern city of Kirkuk.

"He had been in combat at least three times since he'd been there," Hart's father said. "He went into harm's way knowing the consequences."

Hart's lieutenant was killed with him in the string of attacks that night.

Hart's mother said being in the Army suited Hart's personality.

"He was always a leader," she said. "I tried to talk him out of it. I think he genuinely wanted to serve his country."

Hart turned 20 on Sept. 18, the exact day he enlisted one year ago. He had been in Iraq for only a few months.

"John was always one of those outgoing children," Hart's mother said. "When he was little and we went out, I made him wear a red shirt so we could spot him -- he would want to run off, play with other kids."

Adam Lauziere, 19, was a friend and classmate of Hart. They were in Jr. ROTC together since their sophomore year.

"It made him happy," he said. "The only thing he ever talked about was being a ranger."

Rebecca said her brother was a very caring person. Once, she said, he rescued a limping skunk from the side of the road. As a result, he and his friends had to get rabies shots.

Neighbor Doug Townsend, who has been helping the Harts since Sunday, said his daughter rode the school bus with Hart. He was a good friend, he said -- like a brother to his daughter.

Last spring, soon after John was deployed, Brian Hart publicly declared his disdain for the "Speak Out for Peace" sign that was put up on the First Parish Church by parishioners. He claimed the sign disrespected those who are fighting for our country by suggesting that peace is the answer to the problem.

He saw the sign on his way to pick up his son from the airport in March, the last time he came home. The Rev. John Gibbons said the church did not mean disrespect for those serving; they simply wanted to uphold the idea of peace.

The church agreed, however, to take the sign down after two weeks.

Now, the Harts are friends with Gibbons, as the reverend shows them support during this hard time.

The Harts held a press conference yesterday afternoon at their home. Friends and neighbors dropped by all day, and the phone was active. One family friend dropped by after shopping for some food for the Harts; she said Stop & Shop had heard what happened, and the store donated food to the family.

Hart was part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. His father believes his son's patrol helped prevent a civil war in Iraq. Hart's parents said the Army also increased Hart's confidence, that it was good for him.

"I cried when he left," Hart's mother said. "He called me the next morning and said, 'I'm sorry I made you cry.'"

Maj. Dennis Saucier is the Base Chaplain at Hanscom Air Force Base, and Hart's father said he was a friend of his son. Through Saucier, Brian Hart was able to learn that John's body is in Germany right now. Hart is eligible to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and that is where his family decided he should rest. Preparations for the funeral will be made in the next few weeks.

Last weekend, the Harts sold their house and will move to the Chicago area.

The Harts want to donate a bench or other memorial to their son and place it near the high school. Hart was one of the students in the Jr. ROTC who took part in the honor guard at the unveiling of Memorial Park in Bedford.

Brian Hart's opinion of the war has not changed since his son's death.

"It is cruel fate that someone so good and so loved would perish, and truly evil people continue to perpetuate fear and destruction," he said. "There may be a smarter plan than this, but I don't know what it is."

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