Wednesday, May 24 2006 @ 07:02 AM MDT
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 1,535
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 Toledo Blade -- The images of the World Trade Center collapsing, the Pentagon ablaze, and a passenger jet burning in a Pennsylvania field made the decision easy for David Christoff, Jr.
A law enforcement career could wait, he decided. His country needed him.
 Although he knew his father would not be happy, the only way he could quell the helpless feeling after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was to join the military.
"After 9/11, he wanted to protect everyone," said his aunt, Bethann Christoff of Rossford.
Sergeant Christoff, 25, was just starting his second tour of duty in Iraq this year in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol with his unit.
"He's all I had," said his father, David Christoff, Sr., choking back emotion while sitting on his front porch yesterday underneath a U.S. Marine Corps flag. "He was my only child and he was my best friend."
Sergeant Christoff, of 162 Hannum Ave. in Rossford, grew up in the city before moving in with his mother, Amy Hogan; stepfather, Jim, and two half-siblings while he attended Shawnee High School near Springfield, Ohio, and played on its golf team.
After high school, he decided to pursue a business degree at the University of Toledo in the fall of 2000, but took a break from school in early 2001 to work odd jobs, including being a lifeguard, at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, the elder Christoff said.
"[After the attacks] the only thing he could do was join the military," his father said. "He does things all the way, and he joined the Marine Corps to get the guys who knocked those buildings down."
While his family supported the young man's decision, Mr. Christoff said he was initially uneasy with it because he was used to seeing his son often and knowing that he was safe and sound.
Before breaking down in tears yesterday, his grandmother, Ann Christoff, simply said, "I was so proud of him. We're all proud of him."
Soon after enlisting, Sergeant Christoff went to boot camp in Parris Island, S.C., with his best friend, Branden Skabla of Toledo, who joined the military the same day he did. Mr. Skabla could not be reached for comment.
Sergeant Christoff, who turned 21 in boot camp, told The Blade in a 2002 interview that he joined the Marines because "I don't want my brother and sister to live in fear. I want to fight and defend the greatest country in the world."
His company was later stationed in Hawaii and traveled the world before fighting in the November, 2004, battle of Fallujah. Mr. Christoff said his son later received a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds received during that battle.
Shortly thereafter, Sergeant Christoff was given leave to fly home in February, 2005 - and ended up saving his father's life by driving him to the hospital when Mr. Christoff was suffering a heart attack.
"He came home to save my life," Mr. Christoff said. "Just having him here [safe] and not in Iraq saved my life."
After staying home for two weeks, the sergeant - who was considering making a career of the military - decided to leave his company, which was headed for Afghanistan, to join one that was headed to Iraq to finish what he started, his father said.
Because his son was "married to the Marine Corps," he did not have much of an opportunity to have a family of his own, which is something his father said was yet another blow, because he'll never have grandchildren.
"You don't know what you have till it's gone," Mr. Christoff said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Half my heart is missing now."
Funeral arrangements have not yet been made, but they are being handled by the Sujkowski Funeral Home of Rossford, 830 Lime City Rd. |
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I would like to say thank you to you and the other other Marine from unit(3/3) who was also killed that day for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
Semper Fi Devil Dog!