Christopher J. Lapka
Profile
Age: 22
From: Peoria, Ariz.
Assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Incident: Marine Cpl. Christopher J. Lapka was killed Oct. 30 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.
Died: October 30, 2004
Arizonan killed in Iraq weekend violence
By Michelle Roberts
Associated Press
PHOENIX — A Hawaii-based Marine who gave up an academic scholarship to join the military because he was so moved by the events of Sept. 11 was among eight killed in Saturday’s violent attack in Iraq.
Cpl. Christopher J. Lapka, 22, had been in Iraq for only two weeks when the attack occurred, said his mother, Tina Lapka, on Monday. Saturday’s casualties, caused by a car bomb detonated near a truck, were the most for the U.S. military in a single day in nearly six months. Nine other Marines were injured.
Lapka, of Peoria, Ariz., had been anxious to go to Iraq, his mother said.
“He was a Marine. That’s all he was. He was dedicated to the Marine Corps. This is what he wanted to do,” Tina Lapka said.
He enlisted on Sept. 17, 2001, waiting until Thanksgiving to tell his parents that he was quitting school to become a Marine. He...