Christopher R. Hrbek
Profile
Age: 25
From: Westwood, N.J
Assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Marine Sgt. Christopher R. Hrbek died Jan. 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Died: January 14, 2010
Marine awaiting Bronze Star killed by IED
Staff report
A North Carolina-based Marine in line to receive a medal for valor died in Afghanistan on Thursday, according to the Defense Department and media reports.
Sgt. Christopher R. Hrbek, 25, a field artillery cannoneer with 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, was killed in Helmand province, according to the Defense Department.
The New Jersey Bergen County Record reports that Hrbek was killed when he stepped on an improvised explosive device.
The Westwood, N.J., native was going to be awarded a Bronze Star with combat “V” for saving the life of his sergeant major, who stepped on an IED under enemy fire Dec. 23, the paper reported.
“I told him, we are proud of you for doing the right thing,” Hrbek’s step-father, Jaymee Hodges, told The Record. “He didn’t think about it, he just did it. He loved being a...