BEAUX ARTS – Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Vanderhorn returned to the Army more than a decade after he served in Bosnia and Sierra Leone because he wanted to do whatever he could to help in Iraq.
“He just felt that’s where he should be,” said his father, Bob Vanderhorn, after hearing that his son died Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in As Sinia, Iraq, as he was patrolling. His death was believed to be the first U.S. military casualty in Iraq in 2006.
Vanderhorn, 37, was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
He was the third soldier to die over the New Year’s weekend, the Department of Defense said. Two other soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division died Friday.
Pvt. Jonathan R. Pfender, 22, of Evansville, Ind., was killed in Bayji, Iraq, during a patrol, the Army said Sunday. Pfender was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
In a separate incident, Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Christopher Dostie, 32, of Lewiston, Maine, died when a roadside bomb exploded while he was patrolling a main supply route near Baghdad, Fort Campbell spokesman George Heath said Monday.
Bob Vanderhorn and his wife, Nancy, adopted Christopher Vanderhorn when he was 3 months old. He grew up in Beaux Arts, near Bellevue.
Bob Vanderhorn said his son was “talkative, opinionated and caring – as someone described it, kind of a hard head with a very soft heart.”
Nancy Vanderhorn said her son “always wanted to be a hero” so it came as no surprise when he went into the military.
“He always wanted to be either a policeman, soldier or fireman,” she said. “Chris did love God; he loved his family; he loved this country. And we kind of laugh because he was born on Flag Day, and so we always flew a flag on his birthday.”
Vanderhorn first joined the Army right after high school and served for 71/2 years in Hawaii and Italy and saw combat in Bosnia and Sierra Leone. His mother said he left the service when he saw little chance for advancement, moved back to Washington and lived in Tacoma.
Vanderhorn worked as a reserve officer in the Milton and Ruston police departments, was a court officer in Fife and served in the Army Reserve, she said. Vanderhorn re-enlisted in 2004 to serve in Iraq.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by his wife, Teresa, his 5-year-old son Max, and his 4-month-old son Liam, all of Fort Campbell, Ky.; a sister and a brother.
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