Two Fort Carson soldiers killed in Iraq were praised during a memorial Thursday at the Army post for selflessly answering the call long after the patriotism inspired by the 9/11 attacks had worn off for others.

Spc. Christopher T. Fox, 21, a Tennesseean with three years’ service in the Army, died Sept. 29 after his patrol was ambushed in the Adhamiyah neighborhood of eastern Baghdad.

Sgt. Michael K. Clark, 24, a Californian and four-year veteran on his second tour in Iraq, was killed Oct. 7 in a firefight in the northern city of Mosul. He left a wife and son.

Both were members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division. They were the 242nd and 243rd Fort Carson-based soldiers to die in Iraq.

Col. David Thompson, commander of 4th Infantry Division units at Fort Carson, eulogized the two soldiers in the ceremony at Soldiers Memorial Chapel.

“They both joined the Army, in 2004 and 2005, well after the horrors of 11 September, 2001,” Thompson said. “Much of the patriotic hubris across our nation had come to be muted by then, as the war in Iraq became increasingly violent and the casualties began to mount.

“Michael Clark and Christopher Fox knew this,” Thompson continued. “Yet they took an oath. They stood up to serve their country.”Thompson contrasted their sacrifice to “the greed on Wall Street, the obsessive pursuit of riches” so much in the news lately.

“We realize the stark contrast between lives of selflessness, like our soldiers we honor today, and lives of selfishness that we see every day,” the colonel said. “Sgt. Clark and Spc. Fox were noble men.”

Fox was remembered for his camaraderie and singing ability, and Clark for winning numerous bets about how much hot sauce he could eat.

Those were the only light moments. When the spoken tributes were over, grim-faced soldiers executed slow-motion salutes as they paid their last respects, standing before the helmets, rifles and boots that symbolized their fallen comrades.

The only sounds were the sobs of grieving relatives, a lone bagpiper, the firing of rifle volleys by the honor guard outside, the playing of taps and the slow tolling of the chapel’s bell.

Contact the writer: 476-1654 or dean.toda@gazettedev.gazette.com

Janna Karvonen, left, and Yesenia McCann mourn with other friends of Spc. Christopher Fox before entering Soldiers Memorial Chapel at Fort Carson on Thursday. Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Jerilee Bennett