
ARLINGTON, Va. — The mother and two younger brothers of an Ohio soldier killed in Iraq knelt in the rain before his wooden casket at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 7 to say goodbye.
About 50 family members and friends stood nearby as Maj. Douglas Fenton said a prayer for Army Spc. Brett T. Christian, whom Fenton called an American hero.
“I have a request to make of all of you and that is when time permits, write your memories of Brett and send them to his family,” Fenton said.
Christian, 27, of North Royalton in suburban Cleveland, was driving a troop truck in Mosul, Iraq, on July 23 when his convoy was ambushed by rocket-propelled...