Sgt. Christian D. Riege

The funeral for Army Master Sgt. Christian D. Riege, 38, of Carson City, Nev., will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church here with burial at 2 p.m. in the Page Cemetery. Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Friday at the church under direction of Stonacek Memorial Chapel. The Revs. Marcel Kohlmeyer and Gordon Bruce will officiate. Military rites will be by the Nebraska National Guard Military Honors Team. He was one of four people shot Sept. 6, 2011, at a restaurant in Carson City. He was born March 3, 1973, at Torrance, Calif., to Rev. Lynn and Cheryl L. (Lamason) Riege, and graduated from Loveland, Colo., High School in 1988. He was assigned as the supply sergeant for the Nevada Military Department Joint Force Headquarters. Master Sgt. Christian Riege originally enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1992. He joined the Nevada Army National Guard as an M1A1 armor crewman in 1995. Working as both a tank turret mechanic and later a tank crewman, Master Sgt. Riege was assigned to Alpha Company 1-221st Armor in Yerington, Nev. For nine months in 1998, Master Sgt. Riege transferred to Bravo Company 1-134th Infantry of the Nebraska Army National Guard. Master Sgt. Riege returned to Alpha Company 1-221st Armor in August of that year. Upon returning to Nevada, Master Sgt. Riege was an M1A1 gunner and tank commander. He became a federal technician in May of 1999 and worked full time as a mechanic in Yerington. In 2004, Master Sgt. Riege deployed to Fort Irwin, Calif., for 22 months, where the 1-221st Cavalry performed the Opposing Forces mission and trained units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. When Alpha Troop returned to Yerington, Master Sgt. Riege was hired as the troop's AGR supply sergeant. In April 2009, 1-221 Cavalry was mobilized to Afghanistan, where Master Sgt. Riege was the squadron ammunition manager and field ordering officer funds manager at the squadron headquarters at FOB Mehtar Lam in Laghman Province. Upon demobilization, he continued to work in Lima Troop until May of 2010, when he was transferred to the Joint Forces Headquarters supply sergeant position. Master Sgt. Riege's military education included the tank turret repairer course, the M1 armor crewman course, the wheeled vehicle maintenance course, the unit supply course, the primary leadership development course, the basic non-commissioned officer course and the quartermaster senior leaders course. His decorations include the Combat Action Badge, the Meritorious Unit Commendation with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with four oak leaf clusters, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one campaign star. Survivors include his parents, Rev. Lynn and Cheryl L. Riege of Page; fiancee Stacia Green of Carson City; children Serrah, Erika, Sydne and Michael Riege of Yerington; two sisters, Nita and husband Gary Erickson of Norfolk, Larissa and husband Eric Caauwe of Page; nieces and nephews, Caleb, Devyn, Corinna, Cyrah; grandfather Col. (Retired) Jerry L. Lamason of Fallon, Nev.; great-grandfather Gerald R. Lamason of Page. He was preceded in death by grandmother Betty Lamason. Organist will be Mrs. Lynae Stelling with congregational hymns, "How Great Thou Art," "When Peace, Like A River," "Abide With Me," "Onward Christian Solders." Casket bearers will be the Nebraska National Guard Military Honors Team. Norfolk Daily News Article: One of the four people shot to death Tuesday at a restaurant in Carson City, Nev., has ties to Northeast Nebraska. Tuesday's attack by lone gunman Eduardo Sencion, also known as Eduardo Perez Gonzalez, left four dead and seven injured. Sencion also killed himself. Three of the victims were Nevada National Guard members, including Sgt. 1st Class Christian Riege, 38, of Carson City. He is the son of retired Rev. Lynn Riege and his wife, Cheryl, of Page. Rev. Riege formerly served as the pastor at St. John Lutheran Church of rural Pierce before retiring. His wife taught at several area schools, including Lutheran High Northeast in Norfolk. Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday for Christian Riege, who is the father of four children. Also killed were Major Heath Kelly, 35, of Reno, and Sgt. 1st Class Miranda McElhiney, 31, of Reno. The other victim was Florence Donovan-Gunderson, 67, of South Lake Taho. She was married to a retired U.S. Marine Corp member. This is unquestionably the most devastating attack in Carson City's history," Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said. "Our town was shocked to the core." At a press conference Wednesday, Brig. Gen. William R. Burks described the slain National Guard members as dedicated and active in their fields. Burks said Riege was a fitness buff who had also been in the Navy. Riege's military occupation was armor crewman, and he served in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. The rampage started just before 9 a.m. Tuesday, when Sencion stepped onto the pancake house parking lot from his blue minivan with a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker on it. He immediately shot a woman near a motorcycle before charging into the chain restaurant. Witnesses said he had unloaded a magazine when he was still less than 12 feet from his vehicle. Seven people were wounded in the attack. Their names have not been released, but Furlong said Wednesday their injuries range from severe to extremely life-threatening. "Our hearts ache for all the victims of this senseless act of violence," IHOP Restaurants President Jean Birch wrote on Facebook after coming to town in the aftermath of the breakfast-time massacre. "The people of Carson City have also shown incredible support for the victims and IHOP's team members." The shooting happened roughly two miles from the state Capitol. Lawmakers, business owners and law enforcement officials in this close-knit, government-driven city of 50,000 struggled to understand what drove Sencion to turn an AK-47 assault rifle on his hometown. "It's unprecedented in Carson City history," said Guy Rocha, retired Nevada state archivist. "People who live in Carson City have come from other places to get away from the large urban madness. . . . It finally came to Carson City. Family members told investigators that Sencion, 32, was mentally troubled, but he did not have a criminal history. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital hours after the mass shooting.

Tributes

Sgt. Christian D. Riege

March 3, 1973 - September 6, 2011