Army Chief Warrant Officer Christopher G. Nason, 39; Killed in Vehicular Accident

At a funeral Friday for Army Chief Warrant Officer Christopher G. Nason at the Little Country Chapel in North Hollywood, his sister, Gena Nason, was surrounded by the military officials, cousins and friends she called her “new family.”

Her 39-year-old brother was the last member of her immediate family. Their father, Robert Nason, 68, died two months ago; their mother, Dorothy, died of cancer in 1989 at age 54.

“Why couldn’t Chris stay with me, with us, just a little longer?” his sister asked in a tearful eulogy in front of his casket, draped with an American flag.

Nason died Nov. 23 of injuries he suffered in a vehicular accident between Mosul and Dihok, Iraq, military officials said.

Nason, who was assigned to A Company, 306th Military Intelligence Battalion, based at Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Ariz., was one of 10 California soldiers killed in Iraq since November.

Born in Los Angeles, Nason dropped out of Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen without graduating, his sister said.

With the encouragement of his father -- who called Christopher his “pride” and Gena his “joy” -- Nason joined the Air Force in 1985.

In 1988, he attended the Air Force’s Defense Language Institute at the Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., where he learned Arabic.

In 1998, Nason switched to the Army and attended warrant officer training at Ft. Rucker, Ala., and Ft. Huachuca.

His accomplishments after dropping out of high school “proved to the world that you can turn your life around,” his sister said.

Gena Nason, who lives in Silver Lake, said she and her brother had talked about his plans for when he left the military. She said she had assured her nervous brother that his fluency in Arabic was a highly marketable skill.

Christopher Nason, who had two dogs named Edgar and Zack, “wanted a family more than anything,” his sister said.

“I know he was hopeful and eager to take a relationship to the next level and have a family.”

Nason was deployed to Kuwait in September to work in military intelligence.

He returned home briefly after the Oct. 8 death of his father and the burial at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

When Nason returned to Kuwait, he tried to reassure his sister and their friends that he was out of harm’s way, pointing out that he was not flying helicopters or in active combat.

“He felt a little pressure and responsibility about being the patriarch suddenly,” Gena said. “I was moping about how we were orphans now and he was more concerned with being strong.”

On Friday, Nason was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, off a street running through the cemetery named “Avenue of Heroes,” a few steps from his mother’s grave.