Airman 1st Class LeeBernard E. Chavis was killed Saturday, Oct. 14, by sniper fire in Iraq, trying to protect civilians from a roadside bomb. Chavis, whose parents recently moved to Reston, was 21.
Chavis was born in Washington D.C., but grew up in Hampton, Va., where he graduated high school.
According to the Pentagon, Chavis is one of 2,767 members of the U.S. armed forces or employees of the Defense Department who died serving in the Iraq war.
Chavis was assigned to the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. He was shot performing duties near Baghdad as a member of a U.S. military police training team supporting Iraqi police, according to an Air Force press release.
Earlier this week, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.