L. (Louis) Kenneth Christian

Pre-WSC Life

L. (Louis) Kenneth Christian was born on December 29, 1912 to Louis and Eva Cheesman Christian in Pullman, Washington. His father was self-employed as a Harness Maker, and Kenneth grew up in Pullman, graduating from Pullman High School in 1931. 

WSC Experience

Christian attended Washington State College (WSC) intermittently between 1931 and 1937, pursuing a degree in Business Administration. He also worked with his father in the shoe repair business; the younger Christian was one semester shy of receiving his Bachelor's degree when he left school to work full time. He made the front page of the college newspaper, the Washington State Evergreen, on October 5, 1936 for opening deer season by bringing down "the first Mule deer of the season in the Mount Misery district." Christian married Esther Wilhelm of Colfax, Washington on July 18, 1937 and worked as a laborer in Pullman. 

Military Service

Christian was inducted into the United States Army National Guard in 1940, then enlisted full time at Fort Lewis on September 24, 1941 as a First Sergeant, Infantry. He served with the 25th Infantry Division, 161st Infantry Regiment. The 161st was ordered to Hawaii in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Christian arrived on Guadalcanal on January 4, 1943 and his service in the campaign to take the island earned him a rare commission from the ranks to Second Lieutenant. Following Guadalcanal, Chrisitan and the 161st landed on the island of New Georgia, the location of a key airfield the Japanese built at Munda. While supporting the 37th Infantry Division in their attack on Bibilo Hill, the 161st came under heavy fire from a ridgeline, later to be named Bartley's Ridge. Christian was killed in action on July 27, 1943 on Bibilo Hill. 

Burial, Recognition, and Remembrance

Christian posthumously received the Purple Heart. He is buried at Manial American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.  Erich S. Klossner, a WSC graduate in Modern Languages, composed a poem honoring both Christian and another WSC graduate who died on New Georgia, Kenneth French, entitle "To Those Yet Living." 

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