Santa Rosa soldier killed in Afghanistan

A 21-year-old soldier from Santa Rosa was killed in Afghanistan on Monday, the first North Coast soldier to die in combat since the war began there seven years ago, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Army Spc. Christopher Gathercole died of wounds from small-arms fire during combat operations in Ghazni, the Pentagon said.

Gathercole overcame a rough childhood as a ward of the state to graduate from high school and join the Army to make a better life for himself, said his older brother, Edward Gathercole.

"He wanted to change himself, and he wanted to change the world around him," said Edward Gathercole, a 23-year-old Santa Rosa resident. "In his opinion, he was doing the highest civic duty possible."

Gathercole is the 11th solider from Sonoma and Mendocino counties to be killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Gathercole was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Lewis, Wash.

He was a lightweight machine gunner, which probably meant he spent long, tense hours behind a powerful MK46 automatic machine gun atop a Humvee.

The Army did not release any details about the attack or Gathercole's mission in Ghazni, the capital of the Ghazni Province high on a plateau in the eastern part of the country.

He was born in Santa Rosa, but he and his brother were in foster care by the time they were toddlers, Edward Gathercole said.

They moved between foster homes, living for a time with their father before going back into the system, he said.

Christopher Gathercole attended Journey High School in Sebastopol, but his brother wasn't sure what high school he graduated from.

When he was 17, he spoke about joining the military as a way to improve himself and get some structure in his life, his brother said.

For a time, however, he thought he would become a police officer instead.

"He didn't want to die in another county with no one around that he loved," his brother said.

Ultimately, he decided the military was his best option.

"He didn't see any other outlet," he said.

Gathercole joined the Army in October 2005.

After completing basic training with the Army Rangers at Fort Benning, Ga., he was assigned to 2nd Battalion in June 2006, according to the Army.

He served in Company C, 2nd Platoon as an M203 gunner and later as an MK46 gunner. In October 2007, Gathercole transferred to Company D, 2nd Platoon, where he continued to serve as an MK46 gunner.

His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab.

He didn't share much about his experiences in Afghanistan, his brother said.

"The unit he was involved in, they go in and handle some big business, so they don't talk about it," he said.

According to his Facebook page, Gathercole was dating Victoria Nickel of Tacoma, Wash. Pictures of the smiling couple at the zoo, visiting Seattle's waterfront, and atop the Space Needle were posted on his Facebook page last month by Nickel.

The page also lists Wes Andersen of Santa Rosa as a friend.

But Andersen said Wednesday that he hadn't seen Gathercole since they attended Matanzas Elementary School.

The friends lost touch with each other going to different junior high schools and high schools, Andersen said.

Gathercole tracked him down on Facebook just a few weeks ago, but the two didn't have time to meet in person.

"It's pretty wild," he said.

Edward Gathercole, who was homeless for a time before getting help from a group that helps foster teens transition to adulthood, is now left in charge of his brother's affairs.

He said he feels both proud of his brother's service and also troubled because he knows he joined the Army to make a better life for both of them.

"The sacrifice he made was not just for his country, and not just for himself, but he wanted to do it for me," Gathercole said.

In addition to his brother, Gathercole is survived by his father, Eddie R. Gathercole, and his mother, Catherine Haines of Fairfield.

While he's the first soldier from the area killed in combat in Afghanistan, he's not the first area solider to die there.

Dwight Morgan, 24, of Willits was killed in 2002 when his copter went down because of mechanical failure.

As of Wednesday, at least 436 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.