It had been there for two years, but Thursday morning the nameplate of First Lieutenant Tom Krist was finally officially unveiled on the viaduct above the Heukelomseweg in Berkel-Enschot. The soldier was seriously injured during a mission in Afghanistan and later died in the Netherlands. Dozens of people came to the ceremony that had to be postponed due to corona, including Tom’s sister. “It makes me proud that my brother is so honored and it’s kind of a closure.”
Tom Krist was born in Tilburg in 1983 and lived in Berkel-Enschot until his death. The 24-year-old lieutenant was injured in the head during a suicide attack on a busy bazaar in the Afghan city of Deh Rawod. He was eventually taken unconscious and in critical condition to a hospital in Utrecht. There Tom succumbed to his injuries on July 12, 2007.
Tom’s sister Renée unveiled the sign together with mayor Theo Weterings. “I hope when people drive under the overpass, they look up Tom’s name and see who he was and what he was doing.” It touches her that, despite the bad weather, so many people came to the ceremony to honor her brother. “It’s great that many still feel so involved.”
Tom also had that involvement, according to Renée. “He always made sure that others were well,” she says, visibly emotional. She describes him as a sweet and social boy who could sometimes be a bit hot-tempered. “He set clear goals and if they were not achieved, he showed it.”
Playing board games with Tom could be quite an adventure. “He was a blood fanatic. When he threatened to lose, he sometimes threw the plate off the table,” she says with a laugh. “Tom was a fanatical good guy.”
That you could rely on Tom and that he put the well-being of others above his own, was also apparent during Pink Monday, sister Renée says. “We were having a nice party, but it was very busy and I almost passed out. Somehow he yelled the whole crowd out of the way to get me out so I could get help.” According to her, her brother was able to flip the switch in a split second to help others.
That’s why he wanted to go to Afghanistan, Renée says, despite the dangers. “I used to tease him that he only wanted to be a soldier to shoot. That really pisses him off. He’d say he wanted to make sand cases, help people and mean something to others. It really touched him when I joked about that.”
Such a ceremony would have been too much honor for modest Tom, his sister thinks. “He would have liked only that veterans are honored in this way and their story and meaning for society continue to be told.” The 75 Years of Freedom Coordination Foundation names viaducts and bridges throughout the country after soldiers who died during peace missions.
Also on mission, he was mainly busy with ‘his men’ and that they would return to their family very soon, sister Renée says. “If someone didn’t have to come home, then it should be me, he literally said.” According to her, he sincerely meant that despite his young age and it typifies Tom.