Kris Stonesifer - 1st US death in Operation Enduring Freedom
I am proud to be at least a distant cousin to Kristofor Stonesifer, of Doylestown, PA. He was a very sharp man, and a dedicated US Army Ranger. He and his Ranger buddy John Edmunds were the first Americans killed in Operation Enduring Freedom, in Pakistan, (Oct. 20, 2001.) These two men were the finest examples of good, decent American manhood.
I descend from the family branch that migrated to SC and GA, who spell the name Stonecypher. Surely they all came from the Steinseifers, who mostly came to the Germanna Colonies in VA in the 1700's, though some immigrated to PA. They all seem to have come from Nassau-Siegen, Westphalia, Germany. The name is so rare, I have never met a German who has ever heard of it. This suggests the name was originally so localized, that they are all kin.
There are probably more Stonecyphers / Stonesifers in America today than there are in Germany. I proved this via internet search, using the keyword Steinseifer and all its variants.
There is a remarkable website dedicated to Kris, showing the Army's impressive ceremony honoring him; and many articles and photos of his family. It is an honor to navigate through this website and get to know my distant cousins up North:
http://rstonesifer.com/kris/html_pages/ft_benning_dedication.htmhttp://rstonesifer.com/kris/html_pages/ft_benning_dedication.htm
I am hoping to get his Pennsylvania kin involved in genealogy with us.