Wings

Image courtesy: U.S. Army

Being a paratrooper was in Sgt. Christopher Karch's blood. Raised by an 82nd Airborne Division veteran, Sgt. Karch followed those proud footsteps so closely that he once slept in the same barracks his father stayed in during a stretch of his military career. To show his paratrooper pride, he displayed a tattoo of a pair of wings on his back.

Despite his honorable service and love for the 82nd Airborne, WTHR-TV reports that the 23-year-old high school graduate planned to leave the military to pursue some new challenges after returning from his second combat deployment later this month. Yet Jeremy Brilliant's article also said Karch recently had a chance to leave his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, return home, and start planning his life's next chapter. He refused, saying that as a team leader, he couldn't leave his Army brothers and sisters in harm's way.

On August 11, with 20 days remaining in his extended deployment, the Pentagon said Karch was killed in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. The Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

"SGT Karch was the epitome of an airborne paratrooper," 1st. Lt. Matthew Hernandez, Karch's platoon leader, said in a written statement. "He was full of life, highly motivated, extremely competent and always gave it his all. He will always be a hero in my book."

As moving messages full of prayers and condolences fill the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division's Facebook group, the Karch family, including the soldier's mother, father, and many close relatives, are grieving around Indianapolis.

"It's been rough. You know if I get talking about it, it's really rough cause I break down and cry," Norman Karch, Christopher's grandfather, told WTHR.

"Oh goodness, it's just a loss. I couldn't imagine it cause he had 20 days to go."

The fallen soldier's father, Pat Karch, spoke with WISH-TV in the video embedded below about his emotional experience meeting his son's flag-draped casket in Dover, Delaware. While the entire phone conversation is powerful, one particular quote stands out.

"They assured me several times that he will never be left alone until he's in Indianapolis. That he will never be left alone on this trip all the way to Indianapolis. Since we were close and I raised him, I had to be here."

As a veteran, Pat Karch clearly imparted an important value to his son. You never leave those important to you behind, regardless of the consequences. As nothing could have kept a father from Delaware on that painful day, nobody could have persuaded a son to leave soldiers on the battlefield just so he could get a head start on his personal goals. Instead of random body art, his tattoo of wings served as a symbol to his fellow volunteer warriors. No matter what, Sgt. Christopher Karch would always have their backs.