Motivated by 9/11 Attacks, Man Found Calling as Marine

In many ways, Marine Sgt. David R. Christoff Jr. was not unlike the thousands of other young men who joined the military because they were haunted by the images of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

His desire to serve continued even after he was wounded in Fallujah. Instead of returning home when his four-year commitment ended in November, he reenlisted and returned to Iraq for a second tour, telling his family that he wanted to help finish what had been started.

On May 22, Christoff, 25, of Rossford, Ohio, was killed by a roadside bomb while on a foot patrol in Anbar province.

Yesterday, more than 100 mourners gathered on a grassy knoll at Arlington National Cemetery to pay tribute to a man they called a humble hero.

Standing among hundreds of stark white tombstones, seven Marines fired a three-volley salute into the humid breeze. A bugler played taps, and Christoff's parents were handed American flags.

Christoff is the 238th person killed in the war in Iraq to be buried at Arlington. He was assigned to the 2nd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Christoff was a 1999 graduate of Shawnee High School, near Springfield, Ohio, where he was a member of the golf team. He enrolled at the University of Toledo in fall 2000 but left after a semester.

After working a variety of odd jobs, Christoff told his family that he heard his calling after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. He and his best friend, Branden Skabla, 25, decided to join the Marines.

"[After the attacks] the only thing he could do was join the military," his father, David Christoff, told the Toledo Blade. "He does things all the way, and he joined the Marine Corps to get the guys who knocked those buildings down."

During his first tour, Christoff was among the soldiers who pushed into Fallujah. He was hit by shrapnel and received a Purple Heart. But the wounds did nothing to dissuade him from volunteering for a second tour in Iraq. Skabla chose to leave the Marines after his second tour ended.

Skabla, who lives in Toledo with his wife and son, told local reporters that Christoff was his child's godfather. Growing up, he and Christoff were like brothers. He was with Christoff's father when the Marine's belongings arrived from Hawaii. Included were two letters, one to each of his parents, Skabla said.

"You can only say, 'Don't cry,' although you know that's impossible," Skabla told the Toledo Blade. "But you don't want them to be sad, because you're doing what you believe in."

In the letters, Christoff asked his family to pray for those still serving in the war. He also told them he was proud of his accomplishments in Iraq. Christoff received eight medals, according to news reports.

Christoff's father last spoke with his son May 18. He told the Dayton Daily News that Christoff wanted to know how the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James was doing in the NBA playoffs.

Christoff's mother, Amy Hogan, told the newspaper that her son "really believed in what they are doing over there." He told her that he was seeing less combat during his second tour but that bombs were the invisible enemy.

Christoff was his father's only child and his namesake.

"Half my heart is missing now," he told the Toledo Blade.