Christopher D. Kube
Specialist, United States Army
September 7, 1988 – July 14, 2007
Age – 18
Sterling Heights, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, CO
Died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device in Baghdad
Specialist Christopher Kube enjoyed riding his dirt bike and often rode cross-country events. He also enjoyed fishing and hunting. Friends and family note that Christopher showed everyone what it meant to be strong and faced an uphill battle most of his life, often himself making it difficult. Friends and family note that he needed to learn discipline and how to take orders. He completed his GED, but was scared about getting a job after his high school years. When he was 16 years old he knew he wanted to go into the Army.
Chris’s Dad, in Fraser, Michigan and his Mom in Flint, Michigan had always recognized the struggles Chris had as the oldest of four kids and not fitting in to a structured society environment in their Shelby Township, Michigan.
Chris’s parents admit he had a rough time growing up, but they were extremely proud of him when he graduated at the top of his class at the Michigan Youth Challenge Academy and had demonstrated strong leadership skills. Their pride continued as he served his country in Baghdad. Born on Sept. 7, 1988, in Sterling Heights, Michigan, Christopher Kube enlisted on Oct. 25, 2005, just making the minimum legal age of 17 for joining the military.
His parents were proud of him as well for all of the challenges he stood up to and overcame and during boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and across his short service career. Chris saw the opportunities associated with military service and sought to make a better future for himself. Chris’s Army training resulted in him becoming a truck driver.
Chris was a gunner in the Army, and was very proud of that. Back at his home station, Fort Carson, Colorado, he often drew attention for being so young, so short, so slight and so cheerful. On July 14, 2007 Specialist Kube, was killed by an improvised explosive device which struck his vehicle. He had been in Iraq only 13 months and had volunteered to go on the mission in which he was killed.
Back at his home station, Fort Carson, Colo., he drew attention for being so young, so short, so slight and so cheerful. “When I saw him I asked, ‘How old are you, 10?’ ” recalled his platoon sergeant, Staff Sgt. Eugenie Byron-Griffin. “‘What are you doing here? You’re a baby.’ He looked me straight in my eye, with his chest poked out like he does, and he said, ‘I’m 17, and I ain’t no baby. I’m a man.’ ”
Tears flowing, she added: “Everyone in the unit used to mess with him because he was so small. And almost always he would fight hard to prove his manhood. Like when he purchased his first vehicle and bragged about how little he paid for it.” He was determined, Byron-Griffin said: “Even when he was afraid, he would face his fear straight-up. And that was what he did when he enlisted in the Army. He said he was afraid he would deploy to Iraq. But he wanted to make a better life for himself and his family.”
July 14, as he stood in the gun turret of an armored Humvee that was ferrying a team of soldiers to a meeting to promote reconciliation among rival Iraqi religious rivals, a roadside struck him, killing him instantly.
Originally assigned to supply duty, he volunteered to be a gunner and a driver in convoys that ferry commanders and, in some cases, visiting VIPs. He chose danger.
In their remembrances, no soldiers questioned the war. Instead they honored a life. They sat in silence as a series of photos of Kube were projected on a large screen. Words of tribute flashed on the screen.
“You were like a little brother to us all,” wrote one.
“I feel sorry for the rest of the world,” wrote another.
“To my fellow soldiers I say, Kube is gone but never forgotten,” said Capt. Steve Poe, his company commander. “I ask you to pick it up and drive on. That’s what I believe Kube would do. He’s just that kind of guy.”