'Chris Was a National Treasure': US Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Was on 5th Ranger Deployment

On Friday, the Department of Defense identified the US service member killed in Afghanistan on July 12 as Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz from Summerville, South Carolina.

Celiz was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.

Pentagon officials say he died from wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire while conducting combat operations at a medevac landing zone in the eastern Paktia province. 

At the time of his death, he was serving as a battalion mortar platoon sergeant.

Celiz has been posthumously awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart, according to US Army Special Operations Command.

Celiz was previously deployed to Iraq from 2008 to 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

He was on his fifth deployment with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment when he was killed and his seventh since joining the US armed forces.

Celiz's death came less than a week after Army Cpl. Joseph Maciel was killed during an apparent insider attack on July 7 in the Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan. His death brings the number of US service members killed in Afghanistan in 2018 to a total of four.

"The 75th Ranger Regiment suffered a tremendous loss with the passing of Sgt. 1st Class Chris Celiz. The Celiz family has been a critical component of our team and their community in Savannah, Georgia," 75th Ranger Regiment commander Col. Brandon Tegtmeier said in a statement Friday. 

"Chris was a national treasure who led his Rangers with passion, competence, and an infectiously positive attitude no matter the situation," he continued. "He will be greatly missed."