Published: March 24, 2008 09:39 pm            

Enid soldier killed in Iraq

ENID, Okla. — Army Staff Sgt. Chris Hake loved his job and loved the men he worked with.

Sunday night, Hake was one of four U.S. servicemen killed in Iraq when their vehicle was hit by as roadside bomb in southern Baghdad.

His father, Enid resident Pete Hake, described his son Monday as an “energetic, rambunctious kid.”

“He got out of high school and didn’t know what to do. I mentioned the service, and I was thinking the Air Force,” Pete Hake said. “He went down to see his recruiter that day and came home and told me he had joined the Army.”

Chris Hake, an Oklahoma Bible Academy graduate, husband and father to a young son, grew to love the Army and had been promoted rapidly, his father said. He was a member of the 3rd Infantry.

Hake, 26, was in command of four or five others who went on street patrols in Baghdad. His father said he loved his guys.

“He said they would die for each other, and they did,” Hake said.

The blast that killed Chris Hake and the others also injured a fifth person. The fatalities pushed the American troop death total over 4,000 since the beginning of the war.

During a conversation with his son during his deployment to Iraq, Pete Hake asked Chris what he would do if he could come home. His son answered he did not want to come home but wanted to stay until his duty was over.

“No matter what was going on at home, it was the Army first,” Hake said.

This was Chris Hake’s second deployment to Iraq. The first left him disillusioned about the war, Pete Hake said, because his son said the war was being run by Washington, D.C. He said the terms of engagement are not conducive to surviving. This deployment, he was more encouraged, Pete Hake said.

“He was 100 percent sure we should be there, and he talked of the love of the Iraqi people for him and his guys,” he said.

Pete Hake said he has talked with his daughter-in-law, Kelli, three or four times, and she will come to Enid for the funeral at OBA. He said he expects his son’s body to arrive later this week and the family will escort it to Enid. It will have full military escort, too.

Chris Hake and his family, including infant son Gage, were living in Hinesville, Ga. His wife is a Stillwater native.

Pete Hake said he is uncertain about burial, but said his son may be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Hake, a 2000 graduate of OBA, was remembered by Principal Mark Shuck as a quiet and caring person.

“We saw him go on after graduation in 2000 to show his true heart as a kid who is very devoted. He still had strong ties here at OBA,” Shuck said.

Shuck said Hake showed a tendency toward military service while in school through his devotion to his school and his country.

“He was an all-American kid. He was “yes sir,” “no sir” and very respectful. I would use him as an example to other kids as they grow up. He always fit that mode very well,” Shuck said.

Garvie Schmidt, pastor of Enid Mennonite Brethren Church, said he knew Hake through his family, who are members of the church.

“I visited with the family this morning. It’s a tragic situation,” he said.

Schmidt said the family is doing well under the circumstances. He said Hake was very committed and focused on what he felt was important for him to do. He also was devoted to his wife and child.

“We all need to band together and pray for his wife, Kelli, and their child and their family,” he said.

Hake’s MySpace page has a number of pictures of him, his wife and their child. On his blog he writes he is in Iraq for the next 15 months and will write when he returns. A message to his family asks them to “keep our little family in your prayers.”

In a blog written Jan. 9, he said he looked forward to a mid-tour leave in July when he expected to spend time with his wife and son. He also looked forward to coming home for good in 2009.

Hake is the second Enid serviceman killed since the war in Iraq began. Army Staff Sgt. Clint Storey was killed Aug. 4, 2006.



Robert Barron writes for Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle.