Among the noblest heroes in wartime is the soldier who sacrifices his life to save a comrade-in-arms. A U.S. Army Ranger in 2018 went beyond that in an effort to protect not only his wounded partner, but the medical team and the helicopter crew evacuating the man from a still-hot battle zone.
Born in Summerville, South Carolina on Jan. 12, 1986, Christopher Andrew Celiz set his sights on a military career early on. While in Summerville High School, he joined the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. He attended The Citadel from 2004 to 2006, but he did not graduate before enlisting in the Army in January 2008.
After basic and advanced training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he became a combat engineer. From then on, he added more military occupational specialties, starting with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Cavazos, Texas (formerly named Fort Hood) – then to Company C, 1st Battalion 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division as a team leader for the 530th Engineer Clearance Company, 92nd Engineer Battalion. Finally, he became a a mortar platoon sergeant with Company D, 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
While Celiz pursued his Army career, he married Katherine, with whom he’d worked in a local grocery store, in 2009. Their daughter, Shannon, was born to them in 2010. Along the way, the family converted to Judaism. Celiz also spent some of what remained of his free time riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and playing his guitar.
In 2008, Celiz was deployed to Iraq. He then did tours of duty in civil war-wracked Afghanistan, where his unit conducted operations alongside soldiers loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and allied contingents against the Taliban and other hostile Afghan groups. He served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and in Operation Freedom Sentinel in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
On the morning of July 12, 2018, Sgt. 1st Class Celiz was leading a special unit made up of Rangers and pro-government Afghan troops. They were tasked with clearing an area in Paktia Province and securing it against future enemy movements. When they reached the ruins of an old storage shelter, however, they came under attack by at least 20 insurgents.
Their fire drove Celiz’s unit to the ground and prevented them maneuvering into position for a counterattack. In the ensuing gunfight, one of the allied troops was grievously wounded.
Celiz’s first response was to run in the open, exposing himself to enemy fire until he reached a heavy weapon system, with which he and his men returned fire. As an HH-60 Black Hawk helicopter arrived to evacuate the casualty, the insurgents turned their gunfire skyward. Some troops put the injured Afghan in a litter and ran him to the helicopter, while Celiz ran out into the open to make himself as large a target as he could between them and the enemy’s fire.
Once their ally was aboard the chopper, the unit members rushed back to their positions. Celiz did not run for cover until they were all accounted for. As he finally did so, he was shot in the chest. The helicopter was just departing, but Celiz waved it off, concerned that it and the medevac team would be shot down, rendering his efforts in vain. As the medevac departed, Celiz tried to crawl to cover, but gave out.
At that point, the medevac had returned, and Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Six led a team to recover Celiz. The helicopter then rushed the two casualties to a forward surgery team at Camp Dahlke, but Celiz died soon after. (For their efforts, Six and helicopter pilot Capt. Ben Krzeczowski were later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross).
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Celiz’s actions became the talk of the unit.
“He really was selflessly body blocking that litter team and that helicopter crew as they were loading the casualty on the bird under tremendous amount of fire,” 2nd Lt. Garrett White told the Army News Service. White was a fellow Ranger participating in the operation. “He put himself last and everybody else first.”
Krzeczowski agreed, saying, “Courage to me is putting your life on the line to save the life of another, as demonstrated by [Sgt. 1st Class] Chris Celiz, who died protecting my crew.”
Although Celiz had not completed his studies there, The Citadel made him an honorary graduate and put him on the Citadel War Memorial in 2018. At Fort Leonard Wood, the two-story Warrior Restaurant in the Engineers Barracks was dedicated in his memory.
Celiz’s wife and daughter received his posthumous Medal of Honor from former President Joe Biden on Dec. 16, 2021. In addition, Celiz had received, among others, the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal.
