Christopher E. Esckelson
Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves
December 25, 1984 – December 28, 2006
Age – 22
Vassar, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Forces Reserve’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Lansing, MI
Killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar, Iraq.
The second Gulf War lasted a little more than eight and a half years. In that time more than 4,400 service members lost their lives in combat.
But during a particularly brutal stretch between October of 2006 and February of 2007, 22 Marines from Selfridge Air National Guard Base were killed in action.
These Marines went there with the purest of intentions to serve in the cause of freedom and that’s what they did. And I just think it’s something that we have to do. I don’t want them to be forgotten.
Corporal Esckelson attended Saint Michael’s Lutheran School in Richville, Michigan, prior to transferring to Vassar High School. In high school he played outfielder and catcher for the baseball team for 4 years, defensive tackle on the football team for 4 years and two years on the basketball team. He was an avid hunter for deer, turkey and bear and had a special fondness for ketchup. After his 2002 graduation from Vassar High School, he took classes at Delta College where he had a 4.0 grade point average.
He joined the Marine Corps in October 2002 for two reasons: he wanted to be a Marine and serve his country and he needed money to achieve his eventual goal of becoming a doctor. He told his mother that’s what he wanted to do – he didn’t follow everyone else. He was the leader of a 12-man SWAT Team of Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division based out of Lansing Michigan. He was very proud to be a Marine and a warrior. He knew the risks, and saw the horror of war after arriving in Iraq. But fear wasn’t in him his father said. He was very, very angry to see his fellow Marines injured. He said “Dad, there’s no training they can give you to help you see your fellow Marines blown to pieces.”. He loved being a warrior and his job serving his country.
He lived for the Marine Motto “Semper Fidelis” (Always Faithful) and his own personal motto “Semper Auxiliarius” (Always Helping).