BATESVILLE — Hundreds of people stood along U.S. 167 waving American flags Sunday, waiting to greet Spc. William “Chris” Yauch’s casket as it made its way to Roselawn Memorial Gardens in Batesville.
Yauch, 23, died in Jalula, Iraq on Friday, June 11, of wounds he suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with a vehicle-borne homemade bomb. Sgt. Israel P. Obryan, 24, of Newbern, Tenn., was also killed in the blast. Yauch was a member of Bravo Company, 5th Battalion, 3rd Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
He was remembered in a funeral service at the North Heights Church of Christ on Sunday, and was buried with full military honors. He was born in Harrison, Ark., and graduated from BatesvilleHigh School in 2005.
Ya u c h is survived by his wife, Mallory; his mother and stepfather, Lucretia and Dennis Robertson; his father and stepmother, Kurt and Debbie Yauch; as well as by four stepsisters; his grandmother; great-grandmother; and his in-laws, Rita and Gary Rhodes.
Eighty-five soldiers with Arkansas ties have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - 72 in Iraq and 13 in Afghanistan. Sixty-eight resulted from enemy fire, 16 deaths occurred as a result of noncombat situations, and one was attributed to friendly fire.
A list of Arkansas-related war deaths can be found at www.arkansasonline.com/ warcasualties/
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/21/2010