Battle for Iraq continues, hits home
Former ROTC cadet killed in ambush attack
By Bill Morrison
Staff Reporter

For some, the war in Iraq hit a little closer to home this week. A Pennsylvania native was the first known TCU graduate killed while fighting in Iraq.

Army Capt. Tristan N. Aitken, 31, a 1995 alumnus, was killed Friday in an ambush near Baghdad International Airport, the Centre Daily Times reported.

Aitken, who graduated with a bachelor of science in biology, earned the Distinguished Military Graduate medal while in the Army ROTC.

Nathan Lynn, a former ROTC administrative assistant, said Aitken was one of his favorite cadets and one of the best he saw in his 20 years at TCU.

“He was an outstanding cadet,” Lynn said. “Of the 350 to 400 cadets I saw, Aitken was in the top 10.”

From the first day he saw Aitken, Lynn said, he was impressed by him. He said Aitken wanted to become a chaplain but that he was unable to because of his career path.

“He was a very religious man and president of the Officer’s Christian Fellowship,” Lynn said. “He was definitely an outstanding young man.”

Col. James House, military science chairman, said he does not expect Aitken’s death to affect current ROTC students.

“Our cadets are very intelligent young men and women, who understand the risk involved with their jobs,” House said.

Ron Aitken told the Centre Daily Times that his son, who was in charge of 217 soldiers, was riding in the lead vehicle in an artillery supply convoy when the attack occurred.

“He always led his people,” Ron Aitken said. “He never waited in the back.”

Ruth Aitken said her son was an Eagle scout and that he was always testing the limits. She said he had a few brushes with authority in his younger years and that they enrolled him at Centre County Christian Academy in Pennsylvania because it was more structured and helped him live up to his potential.

She said it was in this structure that her son thrived and provided a natural segue into military life.

Ron Aitken, who is retired from the Naval Reserves, said his son loved computer games and was thrilled with his technical responsibilities.

“He said, ‘Dad, they actually pay me to play with this equipment,’” Ron Aitken said.

Both parents smile when they talk of their son’s maturation into a loving husband to wife Margo, whom he married in December 2001 and lived with in Georgia.

Ruth Aitken said her son saw a career serving in the military as way to protect people but that she said she is angered by the deaths resulting from the war.

“These are just needless deaths and needless wastes of talent that could be better used elsewhere,” Ruth Aitken said.

She said her son was a devout Christian, which was evident in the sole letter he was able to write during his time in Iraq.

“I just trust that everything will be fine,” Tristan Aitken wrote. “The Lord hasn’t made me feel otherwise.”

This report contains information from the Centre Daily Times.
Bill Morrison