Staff Sgt.Christopher Dill, Buffalo FF -- Killed in Iraq

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Buffalo reservist, a firefighter, killed in Iraq

By CAROLYN THOMPSON

Associated Press Writer

April 5, 2005, 3:13 PM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Flags flew at half-staff above fire stations Tuesday in honor of a firefighter and decorated Army reservist who was killed while training security forces in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Dill, 32, who was assigned to the Rochester-based 98th Division, was fatally shot Monday during an attack on his unit, a spokesman for the 98th said.

"Here's Chris, who not only fought for his country as a soldier, but he fought for his community as a Buffalo firefighter," said Fire Commissioner Michael D'Orazio, who ordered the flags lowered.  

"Our family is pretty proud," said Dill's father, William Dill, himself an Air Force veteran and retired firefighter.  

Dill joined the Reserves after serving in Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry. A drill sergeant, he was mobilized with the 98th Division in October.  

"He was a kid that loved what he was doing," William Dill said Tuesday from his Tonawanda home.  

Christopher Dill received the Bronze Star for valor late last year following a mission in Fallujah with some of the Iraqi troops he had trained, his father said.  

Of the 150 troops, only 50 had shown up for the mission, Dill had told his father. But since the Iraqi elections, he had noticed a change in the Iraqis, one he hoped would speed his return home.  

"Our Iraqis are pretty much squared away. Much of the chaos is gone and they are running somewhat of a professional unit," Dill wrote in an e-mail to his father March 25.  

"His mission was to get them prepared. He saw some light at the end of the tunnel," the father said.  

Besides his father, Dill is survived by his wife of five years, Dawn, and his mother and two sisters. Funeral arrangements were incomplete Tuesday. Family members said a combined firefighter and military funeral was likely.  

"We're very sad here today because we, too, are a family," D'Orazio said. "He's one of our own."

[Guest]

My thoughts are with his family, friends, Buffalo Fire Dept. and Army comrades. RIP.

Firefighter-soldier comes home  

Honor guard, fire bell note passage of Dill's flag-draped coffin

By T.J. PIGNATARO  

News Staff Reporter  

4/13/2005

The signature 1-3-4 ring on a Buffalo fire bell marks a company's return to quarters.  

Shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, that same chime pierced the silent air of a normally hectic Jefferson Avenue evening, marking fallen Firefighter Christopher W. Dill's return to his Engine 21 firehouse.  

Dill, 32, a staff sergeant with the 98th Division of the U.S. Army Reserves, died in Iraq on April 4 after he was shot during an ambush while patroling with Iraqi troops he helped train.  

An honor guard of more than 70 firefighters stood at attention, saluting Dill's flag-draped coffin as its motorcade slowly passed the firehouse. Neighbors on bicycles and foot lined the sidewalk across from the fire station, removing their hats and paying their own respects to Dill.  

Black and purple bunting symbolizing a company in mourning hung from one of the firehouse bays along with a single gold star flag, symbolizing the loss.  

"When something like this hits, it really hits home that here are these young kids fighting for our freedom," said Buffalo Fire Division Chief Edward Craver.  

"We are a family," Craver said. "It's kind of something we have in common with the military. It is our family, so this is like losing someone in our family."  

The motorcade, consisting of city and suburban, county and state police and emergency agencies - and Dill's father, William E., retired head of the fire investigation bureau - picked up the body shortly after 5 p.m. from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport after it arrived on a flight from Philadelphia.  

The motorcade traveled the Kensington Expressway to Humboldt Parkway and then down Jefferson Avenue where it passed the firehouse, home to Engines 16 and 21 and Ladder 6.  

Dill, who left for Iraq last fall, kept in regular contact with his fellow firefighters, according to Lt. Keith Burke, who tolled the bell at Tuesday's ceremony. "He was just great to be around . . . we had a lot of fun together," said Burke, who worked with Dill at Engine 21 for four years. "It was an honor to be here and bring him home and ring the bell."  

"He was a true sergeant - a military guy - and he'd always make sure he was dressed appropriately . . . spit polished . . .," said Daniel Cunningham, vice president of Firefighters Union Local 282.  

Cunningham remembered Dill as a rookie when the two worked together at Engine 16.  

Just before Dill left for Iraq last October, Cunningham recalled, he and his fellow firefighters had a send-off with a few drinks at a local bar. He also remembered seeing Dill slowly circling the inside of the firehouse days before his departure.  

"He was taking it all in like "am I coming back here?' " Cunningham said.  

When the firehouse learned of Dill's death last week, they made a return trip to the same tavern.  

"It was devastating," he said.  

"It's tragic because even though it happens in this job, when it's someone you know, it's just really hard," Cunningham said. "I'm 54 years old. He's 32. I've lived a whole life and he's not going to live anymore."  

Visitation for Dill will be held from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Thursday in Amigone Funeral Home, 2600 Sheridan Drive, Town of Tonawanda. A Mass of Christian Burial with military honors will be offered at 10 a.m. Friday in St. Edmund Catholic Church, 530 Ellicott Creek Road, Town of Tonawanda.