Introduction
Sergeant First Class (SFC) Christopher James Speer (September 9, 1973 – August 6, 2002) was a U.S. Army combat medic and an armed member of a special operations team who was fatally wounded during a skirmish in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002. 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.
Training and deployment
Speer enlisted in the U.S. 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.
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 which is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he deployed to Afghanistan in Spring 2002 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Death
On July 27, 2002, Christopher Speer and a group of four other soldiers on reconnaissance patrol were injured during a firefight upon attacking and forcibly entering 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 by A-10s dropping 500-pound bombs.
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 as Speer's killer. Khadr later pleaded guilty to, among other crimes, the murder of Speer by throwing a hand grenade during the firefight. Due to a lack of eyewitness evidence, the claim that Khadr threw the grenade relies heavily or solely on a confession extracted through coercion at a US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
Prior to his plea of guilty to Speer's murder, Khadr became the focus of several legal disputes. On February 4, 2008, American officials accidentally released an unredacted version of sworn testimony which — according to Khadr's lawyers — showed that Khadr was not responsible for Speer's death. 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. However, the accidentally-released sworn testimony revealed that medics dressed Speer's wounds before they dressed Khadr's.
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 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 for the pain he had caused her, further stating that his eight years in prison had taught him "the beauty of life".
Khadr would be required to serve a minimum of one more year in Guantanamo Bay before repatriation to a Canadian prison; he was repatriated on September 29, 2012, to serve the remainder of his sentence at Millhaven Institution near Kingston, Ontario. Khadr was granted bail on April 24, 2015 by an Alberta judge.
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.
"The clinic looks primitive to Americans accustomed to hospitals filled with the latest medical equipment. The four examination tables are litters propped on stands. The roof is made of wood, and the walls are made of mud. Medical supplies are stacked three rows deep in tall wooden shelves."
— Pak Tribune