07/26/2006

Associated Press

Capt. Christopher Pate learned languages quickly, climbed mountains and led expeditions to seldom-visited corners of Powell's Books, say friends and family of the 29-year-old Marine killed in Iraq.

Boyhood friends recalled that a trip to Portland's noted bookstore turned into investigations of Eastern religions, Norse mythology and other surprises.

"Things you wouldn't expect from the average Marine," said Alex Sutton.

"He didn't fit any mold," Jon Reali told The Oregonian. "He chose his own path."

Pate's parents, Jerry and Kathy, live in central Florida.

Jerry Pate said the Marines report that his son used his dying words to radio for help and may have saved the lives of two sergeants training Iraqi soldiers. He said his only son might win the Bronze Star for heroism.

Pate died Friday in the Anbar province of Iraq after an improvised explosive device ripped through his patrol.

He was raised in Beaverton and graduated from the private Oregon Episcopal School in Raleigh Hills.

He paddled the Amazon River while learning Spanish, attended the University of Freiberg in Germany, and studied Arabic in Iraq.

As a student at Oregon Episcopal, he spent a week at a Buddhist monastery in Washington. And then he went fishing in Alaska with his dad.

"He liked to think of himself as a Renaissance man," Jerry Pate said.

He said his son was a rock climber, scuba diver, skier and whitewater kayaker. In school, he played football, lacrosse and soccer.

"He was a natural Northwest boy," his father said.

He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1999 with a degree in business administration and joined the Marines that year.

His tour in Iraq was scheduled to end in November, and he was engaged to be married to a classmate at Oregon Episcopal. Jerry Pate said the family plans a private memorial service and burial in the Portland area.

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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com