Free Republic

The wife of a city firefighter-turned-soldier who was killed last year in Iraq gave birth to the fallen hero's daughter this week — and named the girl in honor of a father she will never know. "We named her Kristian, after her dad," said an exhausted, but ebullient Sharon Engeldrum, who brought the healthy newborn back to the family's Bronx home in Edgewater Park from Einstein Hospital yesterday. Kristian is the daughter of Christian Engeldrum, a 9/11 hero firefighter and member of Bronx Ladder Co. 61. A National Guard veteran before 9/11, the firefighter re-enlisted after sifting through the rubble...

December 10, 2004 -- Thousands of his comrades lined the streets and packed a Bronx church yesterday to say a tearful goodbye to Chris Engeldrum — soldier, firefighter, cop and "the true definition of a hero." All 2,500 seats in St. Benedict's Church in Schuylerville were filled as Engeldrum — who risked his life on 9/11 and died tragically in Iraq — was remembered as a man of exceptional bravery and courage.