Kids & Family

Fountain Valley's Honored Heroes: Christopher Kennedy

During 17 years in the Navy, the Fountain Valley resident has given a lifetime's worth of service to his country.

At 34 years old, Christopher Kennedy has spent almost half his life in the Navy. But his deployments have provided a whole lifetime's worth of experiences -- and a place in history

Kennedy, a petty officer first class with special training in aircrew survival equipment, has been on eight main deployments since joining the Navy in 1995 at 17. During one of his deployments to the Middle East, he was involved in the mission that eventually led to the death of Osama bin Laden. He was also deployed to Indonesia to provide disaster relief for the 2004 tsunami and to Haiti in 2010 to provide disaster relief after the earthquake there.

"Chris has always been a devoted, loving and honorable person," said Kennedy's mother, Laura. "As a little boy he had a serious sense of duty, respect and commitment to his family, his education and his country. I can honestly say he never gave us any trouble growing up and always strived for the very best he could be in anything he did. He always got excellent grades in school and received many achievement awards and honors. Chris knew at 7 years old he wanted to serve in the United States Navy, and he followed that course to fruition, never wavering from his decision."

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Kennedy hopes to achieve the rank of chief petty officer by the time he retires from the Navy in three years. In that time, he also hopes to get his bachelor's degree and work toward a second career in law enforcement. Whatever he decides to do, it's clear Kennedy has left a legacy of which his family is proud.

"There were many times throughout Chris's military career that we could have lost him and the thought of that was more than one could bear," said his grandmother, Pat Cornelison. "It would have been a total loss to humanity. He has shown the eagerness to serve his country and do the right and necessary thing, from his harrowing experiences in Iraq to the humbleness he felt for the victims of the Indonesia tsunami where his ship was the first to arrive and offer aid and assistance."

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"Chris is so loved and so blessed and so rich with family," said his fiancee, Christiana Lagana. "There is not a day that goes by that we don't all thank God for him. He is certainly a star in our lives and he shines for us and reminds us what home and love really is."


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