Christopher Speer

{{Infobox military person

| name = Christopher Speer

| image = Christopher J. Speer -b.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Speer as a staff sergeant

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1973|09|09}}

| birth_place = Denver, Colorado, United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|08|06|1973|09|09}}

| death_place = Ramstein Air Base, Germany

| placeofburial = Pinehurst, North Carolina, United States

| allegiance = United States

| branch = United States Army

| serviceyears = 1992–2002

| rank = Sergeant First Class

| servicenumber =

| unit = 3rd Special Forces Group
1st SFOD-D (Delta Force)

| commands =

| battles = War in Afghanistan

| awards = Soldier's Medal
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart

| relations = Todd Speer (brother)
Tabitha Speer (widow)
Taryn and Tanner Speer (children){{cite web |title=BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer |url=https://www.soc.mil/Memorial%20Wall/Bios/Speer_Christopher.pdf |website=USASOC |access-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910235520/https://www.soc.mil/Memorial%20Wall/Bios/Speer_Christopher.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2015}}

| laterwork =

}}

Christopher James Speer (September 9, 1973 – August 6, 2002){{Cite web |date=11 July 2008 |title=United States v. Omar Ahmed Khadr Defense Motion to Dismiss for Violation of the Sixth Amendment Right to a Speedy Trial Government Response D-068 |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Khadr%20-%20D%20-%20068%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20Speedy%20Trial.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508210520/http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Khadr%20-%20D%20-%20068%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss%20Speedy%20Trial.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2009 |website=U.S. Department of Defense}} was a United States Army combat medic and an armed member of a special operations team who was killed during a skirmish in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002.{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Mohammed Azhar Ali |date=2012-08-03 |title=Canada: An ominous trend |publisher=Saudi Gazette |url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120803131975 |url-status=dead |access-date=2012-09-29 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130418052458/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120803131975 |archive-date=2013-04-18}} Speer, who was not wearing a helmet at the time because the mission called for indigenous clothing, suffered a head wound from a grenade and succumbed to his injuries approximately two weeks later. Omar Khadr was charged and convicted of throwing the grenade that killed Speer.{{Cite news |last=House |first=Dawn |date=26 January 2008 |title=Feds fight order to turn over terrorist funds |publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=8083722&itype=NGPSID |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626080941/https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=8083722&itype=NGPSID |archive-date=26 June 2022}}{{Cite news |date=Fall 2003 |title=Dedication SFC Christopher J. Speer |publisher=Journal of Special Operations Medicine |url=http://www.socom.mil/JSOM/Documents/Fall03Vol3Ed4.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122094143/http://www.socom.mil/JSOM/Documents/Fall03Vol3Ed4.pdf |archive-date=2010-11-22 |quote=Six days before he received the wound that killed him, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer walked into a minefield to rescue two wounded Afghan children, according to fellow soldiers. He applied a tourniquet to one child and bandaged the other, they said. Then he stopped a passing military truck to take the wounded children to a U.S. Army field hospital. Speer saved those children, his colleagues said.}}

Training and deployment

Speer enlisted in the United States Army in July 1992 and after initial training as a combat medic, was assigned to the Army Hospital at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, until 1994. He received 18 Delta combat medic training at the Joint Special Operations University at Hurlburt Field,

Florida.{{citation needed|date=August 2022|reason=yes, it is the site of 1st special ops medical group and that's where 18D's get trained but need a source or decently solid evidence that that was the only place at the time that he could've gone to (and even that might be a bit OR-ish)}}

Speer was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group upon completing training as a Special Forces medic in 1997. As part of the 1st SFOD-D (known as Delta Force and based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina), he deployed to Afghanistan in Spring 2002 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Death

File:Speer at Bagram being unloaded by the 396th Medical.jpg being unloaded by the 396th Medical.]]

On July 27, 2002, Christopher Speer and a group of four other soldiers on reconnaissance patrol were injured during a firefight upon attacking a building in Khost Province, Afghanistan. SFC Christopher Speer was part of a squad assigned the task of going through the ruins of the building after it had been destroyed.{{cite news| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/04/29/khadr_goes_on_trial.html| title=Khadr goes on trial| publisher=Toronto Star| last1=Shephard |first1=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Shephard | date=April 29, 2007 | accessdate=2007-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113144841/https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/04/29/khadr_goes_on_trial.html |archive-date=13 January 2014}}

The injured Speer was evacuated by air to Bagram Air Force Base and then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he died on August 6, 2002.

The incident received widespread attention as fifteen-year-old Toronto-born Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen with Egyptian and Palestinian ancestry, was captured and subsequently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, accused of killing Speer.{{cite news|url= http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d23f2f2e-54f9-426a-8f6a-a751e70ec93e&k=68397|title= U.S. Supreme Court reverses stance, will review terror suspects appeal|publisher= Ottawa Citizen |last1=Alberts |first1=Sheldon |date= June 29, 2007|accessdate= 2007-09-25|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095856/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d23f2f2e-54f9-426a-8f6a-a751e70ec93e&k=68397|archive-date = September 29, 2007}}{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/01/11/1136956242159.html?from=top5 | title=Meet terrorism's first family, or so US military prosecutors allege| last1=Reynolds |first1=Richard |author-link1=| publisher=Sydney Morning Herald| date=January 12, 2006| accessdate=2007-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007024034/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/01/11/1136956242159.html?from=top5 |archive-date=7 October 2008}} Khadr was held without trial for 8 years. In October 2010, he pleaded guilty to, among other crimes, "murder in violation of the laws of war" for the killing of Speer. At that time, he said he had thrown the hand grenade which killed Speer in the firefight.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/no-khadr-return-deal-in-place-cannon-1.902718 |title=No Khadr return deal in place: Cannon |work=CBC News |access-date=29 October 2010 |date=October 28, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101115057/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/10/28/khadr-cannon-canada.html |archive-date=November 1, 2010 }}{{Cite news |last=Meserve |first=Jeanne |date=October 25, 2010 |title=Khadr plea |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/25/khadr.plea/ |access-date=29 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026132342/http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/25/khadr.plea/ |archive-date=October 26, 2010}}

The charges against Khadr were filed under the Military Commission Act of 2006 and considered under US law to be war crimes, though the act passed into law several years after Speer's death.{{cite journal|last1=Rona|first1=Gabor|title=Legal Issues in the ‘War on Terrorism’ – Reflecting on the Conversation Between Silja N.U. Voneky and John Bellinger|journal=German Law Journal|date=May 2008|volume=9|issue=5|pages=711–736|url=http://www.germanlawjournal.com/s/GLJ_Vol_09_No_05_Rona.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160420154052/http://www.germanlawjournal.com/s/GLJ_Vol_09_No_05_Rona.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-04-20|accessdate=11 July 2017}} In 2013, Khadr filed a civil suit against the government of Canada, alleging that the government had breached his Charter rights. In the lawsuit, he claimed he had only signed the plea agreement because he believed it was the only way he could gain transfer from Guantanamo. In an affidavit filed in the proceedings, he said he had no memory of the firefight.{{Cite news |last=Shephard |first=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Shephard |date=13 December 2013 |title=Omar Khadr: No memory of firefight in Afghanistan |work=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/13/omar_khadr_no_memory_of_firefight_in_afghanistan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214010500/https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/13/omar_khadr_no_memory_of_firefight_in_afghanistan.html |archive-date=14 December 2013}}{{Cite news |date=13 December 2013 |title=Omar Khadr explains war-crimes guilty pleas in court filing |work=CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/omar-khadr-explains-war-crimes-guilty-pleas-in-court-filing-1.2463558 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214073221/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/omar-khadr-explains-war-crimes-guilty-pleas-in-court-filing-1.2463558 |archive-date=14 December 2013}}

Prior to his plea of guilty to Speer's death, Khadr became the focus of several legal disputes.

On February 4, 2008, American officials accidentally released an unredacted version of testimony

which—according to Khadr's lawyers—showed that Khadr was not responsible for Speer's death.{{Cite news |date=February 5, 2008 |title=New witness account shows Khadr charges should be dropped: lawyers |publisher=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/new-witness-account-shows-khadr-charges-should-be-dropped-lawyers-1.765709 |access-date=2008-02-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511012701/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/new-witness-account-shows-khadr-charges-should-be-dropped-lawyers-1.765709 |archive-date=11 May 2015}}

In January 2006 Colonel Morris Davis, Khadr's prosecutor, in statements to the press, said that Khadr owed his life to American medics who stepped over the dead body of their colleague to treat Khadr's wounds. Speer died from his wounds on August 6, 2002, at the age of 28.{{cite news|url= https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1137066011885&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News|title= U.S. prosecutor's comments on Khadr reviewed|publisher= Toronto Star|date= January 12, 2006|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110606152807/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1137066011885&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News%2FNews|archive-date = June 6, 2011}}{{Cite news |date=September 24, 2007 |title=Terrorism charges reinstated against Khadr |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.644380 |access-date=2007-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812022341/https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.644380 |archive-date=12 August 2022}}

=Aftermath=

On the second anniversary of Speer's death, SFC Speer's widow Tabitha and a comrade of his, Layne Morris, initiated legal proceedings to claim compensation from the estate of Omar Khadr's father Ahmed Khadr.

On October 25, 2010, Khadr pleaded guilty to and was convicted of the murder of Speer in violation of the laws of war, attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, two counts of providing material support for terrorism and spying in the United States.

On October 29, 2010, after taking the stand, Khadr apologized to the widow of Speer stating "I'm really sorry for the pain I caused to your family. I wish I could do something to take that pain away.", and further stating that his eight years in prison had taught him "the beauty of life".{{Cite news |last=Montet |first=Virginie |date=October 29, 2010 |title=Khadr says sorry to slain soldier's widow |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/khadr-says-sorry-to-slain-soldiers-widow-20101029-176fg.html |access-date=29 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031002841/http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/khadr-says-sorry-to-slain-soldiers-widow-20101029-176fg.html |archive-date=31 October 2010}}

Legacy

Speer was awarded the Soldier's Medal for risking his life to save two Afghan children who were trapped in a minefield on July 21, 2002, two weeks before his death.

The infirmary at a special forces base in Kunar Province was named the "Christopher J. Speer Medical Clinic" in his memory.{{Cite book |last=Casscells |first=Samuel Ward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icZ0DQLaoeUC&pg=PA11 |title=When It Mattered Most: Remembering Our Fallen Medical Personnel in Iraq |publisher=Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) |year=2009 |isbn=9780160818523 |accessdate=2012-09-29}}

Awards and decorations

Speer's awards include:{{Cite web |date=August 7, 2002 |title=CHRISTOPHER J. SPEER, Green Beret Foundation |url=https://greenberetfoundation.org/memorial/christopher-j-speer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428002132/https://greenberetfoundation.org/memorial/christopher-j-speer/ |archive-date=28 April 2015 |access-date=September 27, 2020 |website=Green Beret Foundation}}

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