Sacrifice of 2 Soldiers Honored at Arlington

Different Paths Led to Service in Iraq

One soldier was following family tradition, joining the Army right out of high school. The other soldier was not a U.S. citizen, but he wanted to serve his new country after emigrating from South Korea. He, too, enlisted.

Yesterday, Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Gresham, 23, and Pfc. Min Soo Choi, 21, casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom, were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in separate ceremonies.

"Today, we come together to lay to rest another patriot," said Lt. Col. Kenneth Kerr, an Army Chaplain, gusts of wind carrying his words to the mourners seated before Choi's coffin.

Choi, of River Vale, N.J., was assigned to the Army's 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga. He was killed Feb. 26 in Abertha, Iraq, when an explosive device detonated while he was on patrol in a Humvee.

Also killed in the attack was Pvt. Landon S. Giles, 19, of Indiana, Pa.

According to news reports, Choi wanted to become an Army officer and was looking forward to obtaining his U.S. citizenship. He was killed less than a month after arriving in Iraq.

Choi's family emigrated from Seoul seven years ago. After coming to America, Choi spent several years learning English.

"My son said he needed to serve our country," Choi's father, Jong Choi, told the Journal News of Westchester County, N.Y.

Yesterday, family and friends sang a hymn in Korean before placing dozens of long-stemmed red roses at his grave.

An hour later, Choi's grave and the blanket of flowers adorning it would become the backdrop for Gresham's graveside memorial.

Gresham, of Lincoln, Ill., was assigned to the 797th Ordnance Company (explosive ordinance disposal), 79th Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordinance, Fort Sam Houston, Tex. He was killed Feb. 24 at Camp Wilson, Iraq, when an explosive device detonated while he was responding to another blast.

"There are 150,000 kids over there," Gresham's father, Gene Gresham, told the Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington, Ill., shortly after learning of his son's death. "Twelve hundred of them have died. Who would have guessed one of them would be mine?"

Gene Gresham told the Pantagraph it was a family tradition to do a tour of duty with the Army. He said the last family member killed in action was an uncle who died in World War I.

His son's loss, he said, was a devastation. "I haven't stopped crying since I heard it," he said.

Gresham's funeral was held under warm, blue skies and was attended by dozens of friends and relatives who wept as taps whispered through the leafless trees.

Also attending the service was Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who wrote a report detailing the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

Yesterday, Choi and Gresham were posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

They were the 120th and 121st service members killed in Iraqi Freedom to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The total number of U.S. military personnel killed in the Iraq war as of yesterday morning was 1,499, including four civilian Defense Department employees.

Maj. General Antonio M. Taguba presents Esther Gresham the flag from her son's coffin. Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Gresham was killed on patrol last month.