Iraq War Turns 10, Collingswood Remembers Its Own

This week is the 10th anniversary of the onset of the Iraq War, a conflict directly responsible for as many as 189,000 deaths—and that's excluding those who died from hardships caused by the fighting.

(CNN has a stunning map of all casualties in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.)

In all, 4,802 Americans and allies have died in the war, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, 82 of whom hailed from New Jersey.

Collingswood resident Lance Cpl. Curtis Alan Christensen Jr. was one of them.

Just 29 when he perished on Jan. 11, 2008—the result of "a non-hostile incident" in Ramadi, Anbar province, Iraq—Christensen had been assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

As a victim of "friendly fire," Christensen's death was investigated by the Department of Defense, according to Military Times. 

NJ Run for the Fallen offers this detailed biography:

Curtis was born at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and attended Delran High School in New Jersey but was currently a resident of Collingswood, New Jersey.

On his 28th birthday, he told his family of his plans to join the Marines and dedicated himself to making it work. Six months before boot camp, he stopped smoking, drinking, ran every day and joined the gym.

Curtis never did anything halfway and his dedication paid off. Upon graduation from boot camp, he was presented an award for earning the highest marks in physical training—not bad for someone who was the "grandpa" of the group.

When he joined the Marines on October 16, 2006, he was trained as a machine gunner and was promoted to Lance Corporal on December 1, 2007. But his real dream was the hope of joining a special operations team similar to the Navy SEALs.

Curtis was an avid photographer and outdoorsman—remembered as fun-loving and caring. 

In memory of Christensen, state flags were flown at half-staff on Jan. 16, 2008.