This was the eulogy given by Kris' roommate during the memorial service aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.
Kitty Hawk Memorial Service October 23, 2001
Ranger Jeremy VanLaningham
Kris and I were roommates for about nine months. He came to battalion while we were on block leave. While I was on block leave I expected to come back to some young, scarred, wide-eyed ‘cherry’ and I really did not was to deal with that. But instead I got Kris, who was the exact opposite. He was an older, more mature guy who had tons of patience. He had an aurora of complete confidence and confidence about him without being cocky at all. He knew that everybody who came to battalion had to go through a phase to prove their worth and he excelled.
He was a PT stud, he could rattle off every single battle drill in order and define them verbatim. We had very little molding to do. He could have been in battalion for months as far as anyone else could tell. He showed he would make and excellent Ranger and he did.
Kris easily passed the test as to weather or not he would survive in battalion but the biggest test was yet to come—the weekend.
We took Kris to Atlanta his second weekend and were determined to drink him under the table. We quickly found out that most people who tried to go drink for drink with Kris ended up visiting the porcelain god very quickly.
Kris introduced us to the 'Manly Man Shot' and Christian Brother brandy, which had to be sipped, he instructed, to get the full flavor
Kris had made permanent friends that weekend, the "Quad" which we called ourselves consisting of Josh, Barret, myself and of course Kris.
We went out every single weekend from then on. And being roommates with Kris, routines were formed. Every Saturday Kris and I ran errands or went to see a movie. And every Sunday was Blockbuster and Papa John’s night.
Kris was the type of guy you could ask for a hundred bucks or his car and he’d easily hand you his card, his pin number and toss you his keys.
I know for a fact that Kris wanted to be here. He was in pre-Ranger at the time and got his ankle hurt and he got dropped. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so happy to get dropped from that course. Kris and I often talked about how fate had stepped in and got him dropped so he could go to combat with Third Ranger Battalion. But there was one minor problem, he had a cast on his leg that the hospital would not remove before we were suppose to leave. Well fate along with a leathermen tool and medical scissors stepped in again and took his cast away so that he could come here.
In closing I will say to Kris’s family, Kris and I had a very in depth conversation on dying in combat. We both agreed there was no more honorable way to leave this earth then to die in combat.
There is no way to take away the pain of what has happened but we can take peace that Kris was where he wanted to be and doing exactly what he wanted to be doing, fighting for his country.
To Kris from Josh, Barret and myself, you were one of our greatest friends, our Ranger buddy, a mentor, and above all our brother. We all love you very much and promise that you will never be forgotten.