Soldier with Iowa ties dies while serving in Afghanistan
LA CROSSE, Wis. — The La Crosse area is honoring a soldier who died while serving in Afghanistan.
20-year-old PFC Christopher Horns died October 22 in an explosion when an improvised explosive device was detonated in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan.
Horns was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
Horns’ parents live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but many of his extended family lives in Calmar, Iowa, southwest of Decorah and about 2 hours from La Crosse.
4433522Horns will be buried in Calmar this weekend. Thursday his body returned to the La Crosse Municipal Airport, where it was met by family and about a dozen members of the Patriot Guard Riders.
The group of veterans escorted Horns’ body through La Crescent, Hokah and Caledonia on the way to Calmar.
According to affiliate KKTV in Colorado Springs, Horns was just a few days from his 21st birthday when he died. People who knew him call him talented, shy, reserved and an all around good person.
This was Horns’ first deployment. He enlisted in the Army in July 2010.
