[DavidI]

Much of Marine training is based on the theory that shared hardship creates strong bonds and interdependence among men. Add the shared danger of a combat zone and the process intensifies.

Adlesperger and his fellow recruits were lectured about brave Marines of the past, particularly those who died protecting Marines in combat. Even in the middle of a gut-busting 54-hour ordeal called "the Crucible," they were ordered to discuss the heroics of Medal of Honor winners and challenged to live up to their legacy.

"We give Marines a sense that there are things more important than their personal safety, that there are things worse than physical pain," said Lt. Col. Gregg Olson, who led a battalion into Fallouja in April 2004. "Our training takes honor and shame into account."

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Looking for Structure

Christopher Adlesperger was not one of those young men who start dreaming early in life about the Marines. Nor did he talk about the war in Iraq.

His family was surprised when he enlisted in the Marine Corps in the fall of 2003, shortly after his 19th birthday. They tried to dissuade him from joining the military branch most likely to send him into combat. They suggested the Air Force.

He was polite but unmoved.

"I told him I didn't want him to go, but he said he didn't want a boring life," said his grandmother, Wanda Adlesperger, in a tearful interview. "Well, it wasn't boring."

Looking back, family members now realize that he was a nearly perfect candidate to become a Marine. He loved family and structure, even though he did not always have it. His mother and father were unmarried when he was born, and a hasty marriage thereafter soon dissolved.

Adlesperger grew up in Albuquerque mostly with his father, Gary, a pipe fitter and recovering alcoholic with a checkered employment history. He also lived for several years with his grandmother, spent some summers with his mother and finished high school at the home of his mother's parents. He adapted to all of the moves.

"He was always trying to please people; he was starved for affection," said Dennis Adlesperger.

Friends say he was popular in high school, where he ran track and wrestled.

Brian Ferguson, 22, his best friend in high school, said Chris was "always worrying about other people. If you needed a ride, or if you needed somebody to talk to, he was there for you."

He was close to his aunts and uncles and cousins and particularly to his grandfather, Edwin Adlesperger, a retired oil company sales representative. The two enjoyed camping and fishing, and Ed gave his grandson a used Ford Contour.

Ed died unexpectedly in August 2003 at age 73. Chris, who had enrolled at the University of New Mexico, quit after a few weeks. Family members believe that if his grandfather hadn't died, Adlesperger would not have enlisted.

"He was grieving his grandfather, looking for something he lost, some structure," said Phillip Blackman, who had been Adlesperger's taekwondo coach and gave the eulogy at his funeral. Under Blackman's tutelage, Adlesperger had become a national champion in his weight and age class.

In taekwondo, he may have acquired another trait essential to bravery: the ability to overcome fear. As a match approached, Adlesperger could be found with his head in a wastepaper basket, throwing up. After getting sick, he went into his "Christopher mode," and a sense of maturity, of purpose, seemed to take over, Blackman said.

"I'm sure that's how he was in boot camp and the battlefield. He only knew one way: straight ahead," said Blackman. "There was no 'retreat' in his vocabulary."

By all accounts, Adlesperger loved the Marine Corps. He thrived on the physical challenges and packed muscle onto his 5-foot-8, 150-pound frame. He got a tattoo, USMC, down the right side of his stomach. He formed fast friendships.

"The Marine Corps became his family, and when they went to fight he was looking out for his brothers," said Debra McAtee, 42, whose sister is Adlesperger's mother.

At Camp Pendleton and in Iraq, people noticed his seriousness.

"Some of these kids, you have to pound it into them, but not Chris. He always wanted to get better," said Gunnery Sgt. Paul Starner, who was Adlesperger's platoon sergeant in Iraq.

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