June 20, 2004 in Region

Soldier who died in Iraq honored

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BEAVERTON, Ore. – The message board in front of Beaverton Christian Church said it all: “Thank you for serving, Erik McCrae.”

Several hundred friends and family gathered at the church Friday to remember McCrae, a first lieutenant with the Oregon National Guard, as a quiet, hard-working man who always ended his telephone calls with “I love you and like you.”

The memorial service honoring the 25-year-old Portland resident ended a week of mourning for three Oregon National Guard soldiers killed June 4 in an ambush in Sadr City, Iraq. Officials called the attack against the Cottage Grove-based 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry the worst single loss for the Oregon Guard since World War II.

On Friday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski joined the Guard’s adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Raymond Byrne, at the podium. The governor laid a hand on McCrae’s flag-draped coffin before delivering his eulogy.

“Some people are simply born to shine a little brighter,” Kulongoski said. “That was Erik McCrae – a burning light of intelligence, courage and grace.”

Born in La Grande, McCrae spent most of his childhood in eastern Oregon. The family moved to Tigard after Erik’s father, Oregon Guard personnel chief Col. Scott McCrae, was transferred.

Erik McCrae graduated from Tigard High School with a 4.0 grade average, then graduated just two years later from Linfield College with dual degrees in math and applied physics.

McCrae worked as a mechanical engineer at FEI in Hillsboro, while serving as a scout with the National Guard’s Woodburn-based Calvary Troop. He also volunteered as a reserve deputy with the Washington County sheriff’s office.

McCrae had so many activities that he was known as “the part-timer,” his wife, Heather, joked in a video montage.

“He did everything 110 percent. But you never felt like you were in second place,” she said.

The two met in church and married in Fort Polk, La., before Erik McCrae’s unit departed for Iraq in April. They planned to renew their vows when he returned.

Capt. Kelby McCrae of the Oregon National Guard described his younger brother as an avid outdoorsman who learned to love camping, hunting and fishing as a Cub Scout.

The younger McCrae had recently made a surprise purchase, a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle, his brother said.

“He figured he would learn how to ride it faster if he couldn’t afford to wreck it,” Kelby McCrae said with a laugh.

A devout Christian, Erik McCrae enjoyed volunteering as a youth camp counselor and always prayed before eating, his wife said.

Heather McCrae said her husband had told her that the Iraqi people were thankful for the presence of American soldiers. Erik McCrae relished the chance to rebuild the country’s schools and sewer system, she said, and assured her that attacks against U.S. military were “isolated incidences.”

One of the soldiers under McCrae’s command, Staff Sgt. David Romanowski, read a note from the unit to their lieutenant.

“You were taken protecting freedom,” Romanowski read. “We as your men will continue to take the torch of freedom wherever it is needed.”

After the memorial service, McCrae was buried in Willamette National Cemetery.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his parents, Scott and Theresa McCrae, of Tigard, and his brother, Kelby McCrae, of Brookings, Ore.

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