Christopher S. Merchant
Profile
Age: 32
From: Hardwick, Vt.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment, Vermont Army National Guard, Jericho, Vt.
Incident: Army Spc. Christopher S. Merchant was killed March 1 when his Humvee came under attack by enemy forces using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenade in Ramadi, Iraq.
Died: March 01, 2006
• • • • •
Guardsman honored at funeral at alma mater
By David Gram
Associated Press
MORRISVILLE, Vt. — Christopher Merchant graduated from Peoples Academy in 1991, later returned to work there as a custodian and dreamed of being a teacher someday.
But there was something else he had to do first. He did a stint in the Army and returned to civilian life. When the Vermont National Guard’s Task Force Saber was deployed to Iraq, he signed up to serve again.
And when the 32-year-old Merchant arrived back at Peoples Academy on Saturday, he was in a casket. More than 200 family and friends gathered there Saturday to recall the fallen soldier as a man of honor and integrity who put others before himself.
Merchant was killed March 1 in Ramadi, Iraq, when the observation post where he was stationed came under attack by insurgents.
“May you rest in peace. You deserve it,” his weeping...
Occupation
Incident
Prayers & Messages
into the house and gate of heaven,
to enter into that gate, and dwell in that house where there shall be
no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
in the habitation of Thy glory and dominion,
world without end. Amen