THEN
News of [U.S. Army Capt. Christopher Seiferts] death spread quickly throughout the Wilson Area School District where he ran cross country in high school and played saxophone in the jazz band and Bethlehem, where he majored in history at Moravian College.
All I remember about Chris Seifert is he was just a fantastic kid, said Bill Curnow who directed the Wilson Area High School Band while Seifert was a member. He was an outstanding student, a really, really great kid. He was band president and well-liked by all his peers. The Express-Times, March 24, 2003
The memory of Christopher Seifert lives on.
Twenty years ago, news of the 27-year-olds death one of the first U.S. casualties of the Iraq War stunned the Lehigh Valley.
The army captain with the 101st Airborne Division was killed not by opposing forces but in an ambush by a troubled comrade who shot him in the back after tossing a grenade into a tent at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, injuring 14 and killing two. (The perpetrator, Hasan K. Akbar, faced a court martial. His death sentence is pending.)
Seifert grew up in Williams Township. He attended Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem. He married a classmate from Moravian. He still has family here. And he is immortalized by scholarships and awards that reflect his interests, including the locally iconic Freddys.
Wilson Area High School Principal John Martuscelli said the mood at the high school was somber and quieter than usual .
The wars been going on for a few days. Now the war hit home, he said.
Newspapers with stories of Seiferts fate were strewn on a table outside the high schools main office . In addition to lowering the flag to half staff, the high school community observed a moment of silence in his memory.
He was very, very well-liked by students and faculty alike, Martuscelli said. The Express-Times, March 25, 2003
I still have the announcement I made over the intercom the day after his passing, said Martuscelli, who is still the Wilson principal. I can tell you that it was a sad time for everyone at Wilson and we flew our flag at half-mast that day in his honor.
While Seifert graduated in 1993, before Martsucelli started, he knows well the impact of the alumnus, who was very involved. Seiferts activities included jazz and marching bands, cross country and track, student council, National Honor Society, ski club, ecology club, the student newspaper and the drama club.
Ever since his passing, his family has presented scholarships to graduating seniors in his honor.
[Moravian College professor Rosalind Remer], who taught Seifert in three history classes, said she knew Seifert and his wife, Theresa Flowers-Seifert, when they were dating.
They were the kind of people that when you heard they were together, you thought, Thats a perfect couple, Remer said.
Although Seifert was determined to serve his country, Remer said, he was a gentle soul.
He was really human and open-minded; he wasnt dogmatic, she said. And he was very interested in learning.
As the United States prepared for war against Iraq, Remer said, she read in Moravians alumni magazine that the couple had a baby. The Express-Times, March 25, 2003
I just cant believe its been 20 years since Christopher was killed, said Remer, now a vice provost at Drexel University and on the board at the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the non-profit that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Christopher was a joy to have in class, Remer recently told lehighvalleylive.com. He was one of the students whom you sort of teach to. That is, in a class of 30 or 35 students, I could always count on his smiling and interested face, his willingness to ask questions and thoughtfully consider whatever topic wed be covering.
I taught other ROTC students at Moravian, but he struck me as unique in the sense that he was eager to really understand how our past informs our present, something every history professor hopes for among her students! We didnt use the term back then, but he was the student who I could count on to lean in, wanting to get as much out of his class experience as he could.
Remer said she has lost track of Seiferts family, though a Lehigh Valley News report indicates Terry Flowers-Seifert and son Benjamin eventually moved locally. Benjamin was four months old when his father died. He is now 20 and in college.
He and Terry were a lovely couple with such a promising future ahead of them, Remer said.
More than 1,000 mourners gathered at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem to honor U.S. Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert .
Seifert was a lifelong member of the church to which his family belonged for more than 30 years.
Led by a police motorcycle escort, the funeral procession arrived behind Central Moravian Church shortly before 1 p.m. A contingent of 11 firefighters from the New York City Fire Department stood at attention as the procession drove down Heckwelder Place.
While the eight-piece Herald Trumpets from the Valley Forge Military Academy played the hymn Abide with Me, six military pallbearers from the 1079th Support Battalion out of Fort Dix, N.J., moved with quiet precision as they carried Seiferts flag-draped casket into the church.
During the service the Rev. Carol A. Reifinger recalled that Seifert loved pranks and was always smiling, said Howard Cooper, a former Marine from Allentown who attended the funeral.
They said he could find the rainbow in any situation, Cooper said. He just seemed to live a really full life in just 27 short years. The Express-Times, April 6, 2003
Reifinger, now a former senior pastor and active retiree at Central Moravian Church, recalls the challenge of planning the funeral for Seifert, who had become a national figure.
We walked kind of a respectful line between what we knew the family wanted and what the public expected to hear and to see, said Reifinger. The church had to be flexible on some of its traditions, allowing Seiferts flag-draped casket to be displayed and patriotic music to be played.
Central Moravian Church still finds ways to honor Seiferts memory. The churchs seasonal Christmas shop, the Star & Candle Shoppe which Reifinger runs and Seiferts mother helps benefits various causes including the Christopher Scott Seifert Fund for Christian Education. His photo and background are displayed every year.
Reifinger knew Christopher through the confirmation program and saw him grow from a fun-loving teenager into a husband and father. She officiated his wedding and shared in service for his funeral.
You remember the last time you were together with him. I remember him in his dress blues getting married, Reifinger said.
I prefer to remember Chris on the day of his wedding.
In an emotional moment during the inaugural Freddy Awards, the widow of slain U.S. Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert presented Saucon Valley High School with the award for Outstanding Stage Crew.
Upon her introduction, the audience greeted Theresa Seifert with a long standing ovation.
Please know that by welcoming me, you are welcoming those who lost their lives for our country, she said.
As a member of Wilson Areas stage crew, Christopher Seifert learned technical skills and know-how and also learned life lessons such as teamwork and responsibility, Theresa Seifert said.
It contributed to the character of the fine man he became, she said. The Express-Times, May 23, 2003
The Freddy Awards have become an institution, and the Outstanding Stage Crew award is still offered every year in his honor. Wilson, his alma mater, won it in 2007.
This years Freddys will be Thursday, May 25.
This story is part of Lehigh Valley Then, a periodic series that recalls historical headlines from lehighvalleylive.com, The Express-Times and their predecessors from 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 years ago. Stories are pulled from microfilm at the Easton and Bethlehem area public libraries.
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Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com.
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Among the first casualties of Iraq War, a Lehigh Valley natives memory lives on 20 years later - lehighvalleylive.com