That attack began when a group of women and children motioned to a patrol of Humvees to stop. As soon as several soldiers got out of the vehicles, which had mounted machine guns, Iraqi men with AK-47 assault rifles fired several shots at them. When the soldiers returned fire, jumped back inside their vehicles and started to drive away, hundreds of Iraqis on the street, in alleys and on rooftops opened fire with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Swisher, who was commanding the lead vehicle, was shot in the head almost immediately and killed. Pvt. Sean Silva, in the second vehicle, was also killed when he was shot in the head. Four others were wounded, but all three vehicles somehow made it out of a 600-yard gantlet of fire.
His mother, Sharon Swisher, said he admired the military so much, he dressed in camouflage clothing almost his entire senior year at Lincoln Northeast High School. A year after he graduated in 1995, he joined the Army and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. She remembered her son for his love of the military. "He tried really hard to get into the Army. That's what he wanted to do," she said. "He told me over and over again, 'Mom, remember I love you and remember if anything happens to me I'm doing what I want to be doing; I'm protecting my family and my home.'" Chris and Kristen Swisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary Sept. 29.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Swisher, who was commanding the lead vehicle, was shot in the head almost immediately and killed. Pvt. Sean Silva, in the second vehicle, was also killed when he was shot in the head. Four others were wounded, but all three vehicles somehow made it out of a 600-yard gantlet of fire.
His mother, Sharon Swisher, said he admired the military so much, he dressed in camouflage clothing almost his entire senior year at Lincoln Northeast High School. A year after he graduated in 1995, he joined the Army and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. She remembered her son for his love of the military. "He tried really hard to get into the Army. That's what he wanted to do," she said. "He told me over and over again, 'Mom, remember I love you and remember if anything happens to me I'm doing what I want to be doing; I'm protecting my family and my home.'" Chris and Kristen Swisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary Sept. 29.
That attack began when a group of women and children motioned to a patrol of Humvees to stop. As soon as several soldiers got out of the vehicles, which had mounted machine guns, Iraqi men with AK-47 assault rifles fired several shots at them. When the soldiers returned fire, jumped back inside their vehicles and started to drive away, hundreds of Iraqis on the street, in alleys and on rooftops opened fire with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Swisher, who was commanding the lead vehicle, was shot in the head almost immediately and killed. Pvt. Sean Silva, in the second vehicle, was also killed when he was shot in the head. Four others were wounded, but all three vehicles somehow made it out of a 600-yard gantlet of fire.
His mother, Sharon Swisher, said he admired the military so much, he dressed in camouflage clothing almost his entire senior year at Lincoln Northeast High School. A year after he graduated in 1995, he joined the Army and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. She remembered her son for his love of the military. "He tried really hard to get into the Army. That's what he wanted to do," she said. "He told me over and over again, 'Mom, remember I love you and remember if anything happens to me I'm doing what I want to be doing; I'm protecting my family and my home.'" Chris and Kristen Swisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary Sept. 29.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Swisher, who was commanding the lead vehicle, was shot in the head almost immediately and killed. Pvt. Sean Silva, in the second vehicle, was also killed when he was shot in the head. Four others were wounded, but all three vehicles somehow made it out of a 600-yard gantlet of fire.
His mother, Sharon Swisher, said he admired the military so much, he dressed in camouflage clothing almost his entire senior year at Lincoln Northeast High School. A year after he graduated in 1995, he joined the Army and rose to the rank of staff sergeant. She remembered her son for his love of the military. "He tried really hard to get into the Army. That's what he wanted to do," she said. "He told me over and over again, 'Mom, remember I love you and remember if anything happens to me I'm doing what I want to be doing; I'm protecting my family and my home.'" Chris and Kristen Swisher celebrated their second wedding anniversary Sept. 29.
