Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Alaska

GYSgt Eastman was assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died July 18, 2010 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while supporting combat operations.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. — The Defense Department said Tuesday that a Marine staff noncommissioned officer was killed Sunday in Afghanistan.

Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, Alaska, died while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, the Pentagon said. He was assigned to 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. He deployed to Afghanistan in April.

A Marine Corps spokesman told the Anchorage Daily News that insurgents may have detonated an improvised explosive device while Eastman, an explosives ordnance disposal technician, was working a bomb site.

GYSgt. Eastman and his wife, Gaby, were expecting their second child, the newspaper reported. “He gladly put his life on the line for you day in and day out without thinking twice about it,” a family friend wrote on the Eastmans’ MySpace pages in announcing his death. “Christopher was a loving husband, father, brother and son and we will miss our brother dearly and know that he is in a better place now.”

Chris Eastman, who enlisted in 2000, also deployed to Iraq in 2008. His military awards and decorations include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation and Certificate of Commendation.

July 21, 2010, Anchorage, Alaska — Governor Sean Parnell today ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff on Thursday in honor and memory of U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Eastman.

“Sergeant Christopher Eastman gave his life to defend our nation’s freedom,” Governor Parnell said. “He will be remembered for his dedication and honorable service to our country. Sandy and I extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.”

Eastman, 28, of Moose Pass, died Sunday from injuries sustained while working on a bombsite in Now Zad, Afghanistan. Eastman, an explosives disposal expert, was assigned to the 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton in California.

State flags will be lowered to half-staff on Thursday, July 22. Flags will be raised to full-staff the following morning.

GYSgt Eastman is survived by his wife Gaby, 7 month old daughter Joy and another baby due in August; his mother Joy Eastman and three brothers: Jordan, Joseph and Jason. He was preceded in death by his father Loren E. Eastman.

Funeral arrangements are pending upon his body being returned to Alaska.

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Christopher L. Eastman was killed in action on 7/18/10.