Christopher Profiled in Magazine

Christopher Profiled in Magazine

This was from a Dec 2005 article in Defend America News. I have excerpted some below but you can read the whole thing yourself here.

"One Marine sought the road less traveled while the other sought the path to self-discovery. Both found that their road was one in the same, and it began at the yellow footprints.

"Lance Cpl. Christopher K. Morgan-Riess, tactical data network specialist, 11th MEU, came from an upper-middle class background. Morgan-Riess, who was the only child of a college professor and book publisher, graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Growing up, Morgan-Riess said he lived in the sheltered world of academia with his face buried in books.

"Both young men had everything going for them. They had money, nice homes, nice clothes and a pedigree that destined them to academic success and monetary wealth.

"Heist would later realize that money wasn't everything and Morgan-Riess soon learned that the lessons of life he was searching for could not all be found in books.

"So they both joined the Marines.

"Now, both Marines find themselves sailing off the coast of Camp Pendleton, aboard an amphibious assault ship and part of one of the most elite fighting forces the world has ever seen. As Heist puts it, he is on a personal journey of discovery, while Morgan-Riess describes his quest as one for knowledge. Aboard the U.S.S. Peleliu, they are conducting dangerous and important training that they may one day have to use in Iraq or in some other war-torn place. Both are just a couple thousand miles from home, but almost a million miles from the life they used to live.

"Although their friends and family respected their decision, both Marines said most of their loved ones were not too happy at first.

"My father was pretty shocked,” said Morgan-Riess. 'It took a couple of weeks of long dinners explaining to him what my reasons were for enlisting. He was expecting for me to go on to pursue higher degrees right away.'

"'At that point in my life, I wanted to see the world and experience how the military works from a first person perspective rather than reading it in a book,' he added.

"'Life aboard a ship is a culture shock like no other,' said Heist. 'It's like a small floating city inside a pressure cooker streaming toward the horizon, where the heat begins to rise and the pressure starts to build as soon as the warning order is dropped and a mission is assigned.'

"Most Marines and sailors would say that the MEU is not a place for the meek, soft-spoken, thin-skinned or those accustomed to a full night's sleep. The sounds of Harriers taking off and landing is deafening and the rattle of chains being dragged across a hard-coated steel deck can be heard way down into the bowels of the ship. It's a place for those who are driven, undeterred and maybe just a little bit crazy.

"'Morgan-Riess is the type of Marine I would want on my team,' said Sgt. Mauricio A. Febres, computer technician. 'He is one of the most capable troubleshooters in the MEU. He is extremely intelligent, very mature, and needs no supervision.' According to Morgan-Riess, the work is endless and there is little time to sleep. Despite this, he said there is no other job he would rather be doing and he is confident that joining the Corps was the best decision he ever made.

"Morgan-Riess said he remembers the exact moment that he knew he took the right road. It was in basic training, while marching in silence to the chow hall on a cold dark and miserable morning.

"'I happened to look up at the stars and at the faces of the Marines around me, whom I had been sweating and bleeding with for the past two months,' he said. "I remember having this feeling of complete camaraderie and a certainty that if I ever needed them, they would help me, and that I would help them. I had never felt anything like that before.'"