Hometown: West Bend, WI
Branch: U.S. Marine Corps
Unit: Marine Light-Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: December 18, 2006 - KIA in Al Anbar Province, Iraq
Age: 27
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Kevin Kryst was the oldest of six children born to parents Glenn and Elizabeth (Dziak) Kryst. He grew up in West Bend, Wisconsin, where he participated on the swim team and played French Horn in an ensemble at West Bend West High School.

After high school graduation in 1997, Kryst attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison and joined the United States Marine Corps during his sophomore year. He signed up for the Officer Candidate School (OCS) and attended basic training sessions at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia during the summers following his sophomore and junior years.

In 2001, Kryst graduated from college with a degree in kinesiology and received his commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

2LT Kryst returned to Quantico to complete Officer Candidates School, where he was awarded a pilot contract. Sent next to Naval Air Station Pensacola (Florida) for more training, he earned his pilot’s license and the Commandant’s Award for Excellence. He chose to fly Cobra helicopters.

Kryst’s mother, Elizabeth, recalls, “He was always very active, very busy. He had a need for speed, and that’s what he got flying helicopters.”

He received more training in San Diego and at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and was assigned to Marine Light-Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, California.

Kryst was first deployed to Iraq in 2004, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. As an attack helicopter pilot Kryst’s responsibility was to protect Marines on the ground.

He was promoted to the rank of captain in October 2005. Family and friends say that he was proud to be a Marine, loved his country, and believed in what he was doing.

Kryst returned home for a few days in August 2006, prior to a six-month deployment. It was enough time for him to become engaged to his girlfriend, Sara, before heading back to Iraq.

In his second deployment, Capt. Kryst served with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Anbar province. Anbar makes up the western third of Iraq and shares a border with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. At the time, a Sunni-led insurgency made Anbar one of the deadliest battlefronts in the Iraq War (2003-2011). Kryst’s unit’s mission was to secure major highways in the province.

Kryst and his helicopter squadron were based at Camp Korean Village in Anbar—so named because it was once home to the Korean construction teams who built the main thoroughfare from Baghdad to Syria and Jordan, during the reign of Saddam Hussein.

On December 18, 2006—just weeks after beginning his second deployment—Capt. Kryst’s base came under an enemy rocket attack. Kryst was returning to his quarters after a 12-hour shift protecting Marines when a rocket exploded overhead. Capt. Kryst was struck and killed by a shell fragment, at age 27.

Captain Kevin M. Kryst was buried with full military honors on July 5, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery (Section 60, Site 8638)—across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Sources
Details submitted by Mr. Scott Mindel, West Bend East High School; details and card photo provided by Liz & Glenn Kryst, Capt. Kryst’s Gold Star Parents.
Arlington National Cemetery: Kevin Michael Kryst – Captain, United States Marine Corps
Wisconsin Union: Kevin Michael Kryst
The Highground, Veterans Memorial Park: Kevin M. Kryst
The San Diego Union-Tribune, January 13, 2007: Service honors Pendleton Marine killed in Iraq last month
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 26, 2006: Kevin Michael Kryst
Burial Site: Find a Grave

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