Marine Pfc. Christian D. Gurtner

Died April 02, 2003 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

19, of Ohio City, Ohio; assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.; killed by an accidental weapons discharge in southern Iraq.

Christian Gurtner left for Marine service the same month he graduated from Van Wert High School in Ohio City in 2002.

“He was a typical Marine,” said Staff Sgt. Eryck Little, who recruited Gurtner. “He was young, motivated, hard-charging. He was the type of guy who stepped up to the plate to a challenge.”

Gurnter, 19, an infantry scout based at Twentynine Palms, Calif., died April 2 when his weapon accidentally discharged. He had a 6-month-old daughter.