Family remembers fallen soldier's sense of love, duty

Christopher Barton was supposed to return home from Afghanistan on June 15.

The paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division went on a mission in the Khost province on Monday, one his unit had been planning for a while.

He talked to his wife, Heather Godwin Barton, on Skype before he left on the mission. They talked about old times -- about friends, family and home. Heather said Chris couldn't wait to get home.

"He just wanted to be home and hang out with family and his close friends," she said.

They were planning a cookout and a trip to the beach when he returned. Then Chris had to go.

"He told me he loved me," Heather, 19, said.

She said she was never afraid for him, but that night, she got scared. She just wanted him to be on the other end of the webcam.

Spec. Barton was killed that Monday, when insurgents attacked his unit. He was 22 years old.

He is the second serviceman from Cabarrus County to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. David Bryan Parson of Kannapolis, was killed in Baghdad, Iraq on July 6, 2003.

Chris' death has brought out the best in the small town of Harrisburg. The American Legion post made sure the flags hang at half-staff in front of Harrisburg Town Hall. Business signs on N.C. 49 carry messages of support. In the Stallings Glen neighborhood, where Chris' family lives, American flags line the streets.

The outpouring of community support has been overwhelming, Elaine Schmiedeshoff, Chris' mother said.

Strangers have dropped off flowers and food. Someone dropped off some Bojangles chicken at the end of their driveway and drove off, without saying a word.

And Chris will be honored at Charlotte Motor Speedway, during pre-race ceremonies before today's Coca Cola 600.

Everything else that usually goes with Memorial Day weekend -- cookouts, beach trips, racing -- doesn't matter this year to Chris' family.

They are planning a funeral, and coming to terms with the death of their personal hero.

"I feel like there is still room for error," Cory Barton, 19, Chris' younger brother, said. "We still haven't seen anything. You are just running off what everyone is telling you."

'Go Big or Go Home'

Christopher Barton joined the Army to find himself.

His father, Roy Schmiedeshoff, said Chris was like any other 20-year-old.

After graduating from Central Cabarrus High School in 2006, Chris moved out and got an apartment with his older brother, Bryan. He hung out with friends, played video games, basketball and football. He took classes at community college.

"He had a big heart," Heather said. "He was the kind of guy that would do anything for anyone."

Chris was interested in anything physical, Heather said, and he worked out faithfully. He also was competitive.

"He always wanted to win," Cory said. "He always said, 'Go big or go home.'"

Chris joined the Army for the same reason a lot of young men and women do: To help others and find a purpose.

"At the time, he thought the Army would be the best way to help others and to figure out what he wanted to do with his life," Heather said.

Chris threw himself into basic training, winning competitions and making the most of the training. He volunteered to be a paratrooper. Roy pinned the golden wings on Chris when he graduated from Special Forces school.

Chris knew the infantry would be dangerous, but he said that somebody has to do it.

"Those were his words," Roy said. "Somebody has to do it. So I think he did have a real sense of purpose.

"We really watched him mature and grow over the last couple of years," Roy said.

True Love

Chris and Heather were long-time friends before they started dating. Heather was a friend of Cory's and they all hung out together.

But Heather said Chris was always afraid to ask her out, until Christmas 2008.

"We were watching reruns of 'A Christmas Story' and he hugged me goodbye and left," Heather said. "Then he knocked on the door. I asked him if he forgot something, and he grabbed me and said, 'I've always wanted to do this,' and just kissed me."

Last year, Chris asked Heather's father, Jeff Godwin, for permission to marry Heather. He said Chris was nervous about asking him. But he asked anyway. On July 4, 2009, Chris and Heather watched the fireworks together in Harrisburg, then went for a walk around the lake at the Shoppes at University Place.

There, Chris proposed to Heather.

"Inside, I was rooting for him," Jeff said. "He wanted to wait to get back from Afghanistan for the wedding, but I told him if he wanted to get married, he should do it before he shipped out."

They were married on Oct. 30, 2009. It wasn't a big wedding -- only immediate family at Heather's church in Charlotte.

"As a father, I couldn't have picked a better son-in-law," Jeff said.

Chris shipped out on Jan. 26. On his and Heather's Facebook pages, there are daily postings back and forth -- expressions of love between the two.

"She would come home from work and stay by her laptop all the time, waiting for him to get on," Jeff said. "I've never seen anyone so devoted."

Heather and Chris were making lots of plans for his return in June -- including a proper wedding ceremony at Heather's family's farm in Union County.

"We were going to watch the fireworks in Harrisburg on July Fourth and do everything we did the same when he proposed," Heather said.

Solemn Duty

Chris' remains will be at Dover Air Force Base until later this week, when he will return to North Carolina for the final time.

His friend, Pfc. Austin Haskins, who will ship out himself to Afghanistan in a couple of months, will escort Chris back to the Land of the Pine and be with him all the way home.

As for funeral arrangements, details are still being planned, but Elaine said they are looking to have a public service on Saturday.

Roy said Chris' death has changed their attitude about war in general, but Cory, usually the jokester of the family, was adamant about the politics surrounding the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"All that doesn't matter," he said. "If it wasn't for those guys over there ... we wouldn't have the right to do what we're doing right now.

"It doesn't matter why we're over there now, we're over there. People that are over there give us the right to sit here and talk about it ... and truthfully, that's all I care about."