[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 28 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHRISTOPHER BLAHA--HERO AVENGER
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HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 13, 2002
Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank and praise Army
Lieutenant Christopher Blaha for his heroic actions in the defense of
our nation. I would like to share with my fellow colleagues the
following two articles describing Lieutenant Blaha's incredible service
in our fight against terrorism. September 11, 2001 was a horrific day
for the United States, yet brave men, such as Lieutenant Blaha, show us
all that the spirit of America has not, and will not, be broken. Mr.
Speaker, we will prevail.
[From the New York Post, Mar. 11, 2002]
Frontline GI's Battle Cry for Buddies Killed in WTC Attack--Hero
Avenger
(By John Lehmann)
On every grenade he threw at the al Qaeda fighters, New
Yorker Christopher Blaha wrote the name of the best friend he
lost to terrorists on Sept. 11.
Also burned into the Army lieutenant's mind was the memory
of a second buddy, who died trying to save lives at the World
Trade Center.
After a fierce eight-day fight in remote Afghan mountains,
24-year-old Blaha, from Great Neck, L.I., returned to safety
yesterday and immediately spoke of his two lost pals, Andrew
Stergiopoulos, who worked for bond firm Cantor Fitzgerald,
and FDNY firefighter Jonathan Ielpi.
``There was definitely a vindictive side to it--I can go
back and tell their families everything we did.'' Blaha said,
as he rested at the Bagram air base near Kandahar.
As his fellow soldiers cheered the returning troops, Blaha,
fighting with the Army's 10th Mountain Division based in
upstate New York, told how he had written Stergiopoulos' name
on his grenades.
Blaha's mom, Cooky said her son had formed a bond for life
with Steriopoulos as the pair grew up in Great Neck, playing
ice hockey for a community team, the Great Neck Bruins.
John Hughes, the father of skating gold-medalist Sarah
Hughes, also played on the team. ``Andrew and Chris were real
close--I'm just so proud of what he's done,'' Cooky Blaha
told The Post.
Steriopoulos' brother, George, said from his home in Great
Neck that his family was ``touched'' by Blaha's words. ``It's
been very hard,'' he said. ``It would have been Andrew's 24th
birthday on March 7.''
``I saw Chris going off to boot camp, and we've been hoping
that he's OK. That's really touching, what he said.''
Ielpi, a 29-year New York City firefighter with two young
sons, had known the Blaha family for years, having attended
St. Aloysius elementary school in Great Neck with Christopher
Blaha's eldest brother, Jack.
Ielpi's mom, Anne, said last night her family had been
thinking of Blaha during his Afghanistan mission and was
hoping he returned safely.
``We've known the family for years and we think it's great
if he can get a little retaliation,'' she said. ``It means a
lot to everyone.''
Blaha had told his mom before leaving for Uzbekistan in
January that he would dedicate his mission to his friends.
``He's just a kid from Great Neck really, but he rang this
morning and told me he had been ordering in the planes with
the bombs and I couldn't believe it--he's made us all
proud,'' she said.
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[From the News Day, Mar. 12, 2002]
A Message With Every Grenade--How Soldier From LI Remembers a Friend
(By Keiko Morris)
Mourners have remembered those lost on Sept. 11 with
flowers, letters, balloons released into the sky and
eulogies. 2nd Lt. Chris Blaha had his own way.
He wrote the name of a childhood friend, who died in the
terrorist attacks, on every grenade he lobbed at enemy
Taliban and al-Qaida positions.
Blaha, a 24-year-old Army officer from Great Neck, marked
the end of an intense battle with an excited call to his
mother on Sunday, using a reporter's satellite phone. He told
his mom about his role in Operation Anaconda, the most recent
U.S.-led military offensive in Afghanistan.
He said he was filthy, cold and unshaven, but safe. He told
her that he directed a B-52 where to drop bombs on enemy
positions. And he told her about the grenades--every one in
memory of his friend, Andrew Stergiopoulos, 23, who worked at
Cantor Fitzgerald.
``Chris was in Ranger School on 911,'' said his mother.
Cooky Blaha, an office manager who lives in Great Neck. ``I
had to tell him . . .'' He was infuriated. she remembered.
``Now he feels like he can do something about it,'' she
said. ``I'm proud of him.''
Stergiopoulos was not the only childhood friend of Blaha's
to die in the attacks. Jonathan Ielpi, 29, a New York City
firefighter and father of two, was friends with Blaha's older
brother, Jack. Blaha went into battle with the memory of both
in his heart, his mother said.
Blaha went to Hofstra University and graduated in December
2000 on an ROTC scholarship. He went directly to basic
training and later to an Army Ranger School at Fort Benning
in Georgia. He left for Uzbekistan in January and was sent to
Afghanistan in late February, his mother said. That was about
the last time she heard from him until Sunday.
``I was a little worried when those guys got killed and I
thought things weren't going too well,'' Cooky Blaha said.
``. . . He's a little, short, tough kid. He shops at
Nordstroms, wears Armani. He drives a Porsche. He's a Great
Neck kid, so I was worried. But he did great.''
All three knew each other since they were affectionately
known as ``rink rats,'' young Great Neck skaters who either
play hockey or take up figure skating. They all played for
the Great Neck Bruins in a youth hockey program.
The Great Neck Bruins retired both Ielpi's and
Stergiopoulos' numbers and a banner was hung at the Parkwood
Ice Rink as a permanent memorial, said Anne Ielpi, the mother
of Jonathan Ielpi. Saddle Rock Bridge, the place where
everyone went to stare at the burning towers on Sept. 11, was
renamed the 9-11 Memorial Bridge.
Anne Ielpi heard of Blaha's tribute from a friend on Sunday
morning.
``I said, `Good for him, keep on throwing them,' '' Ielpi
said. ``Knowing that someone is over there doing something in
my son's name, it gives me solace.''
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