60-year-old is oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq

[alienlovechild 75]

A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday.

Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., served in Vietnam and wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks, but his wife was against it, his brother said.

Richard Hutchison told The Associated Press on Thursday that when she died, "a part of him died" so he signed up in July 2007 at age 59.

The Pentagon said Steven Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said Thursday that Hutchison was the oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq.

An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Hutchison is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.

Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year before deploying to Iraq in October, heading a 12-soldier team that trained the Iraqi military, his brother said. Later, he was assigned to help secure Iraq's southern border.

Hutchinson, who grew up in California, taught psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on and off between 1988 and 1996, and lectured and taught at two other colleges, according to school records. He then worked at a health care corporation in Arizona before retiring and re-entering the service, his brother said.

He was part of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top...al/6424905.html

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

RIP

[almaty 19]

agreed RIP....

[alienlovechild 75]

The guy who recently killed his fellow American soldiers was 44. It seems the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has somewhat older average soldiers serving than in previous wars somewhat changing the old saying that old men start the wars and the young men fight them.

[almaty 19]

true..good point...

[Nagishkaw 510]

How sad!

[one...two...tree 2,762]

[Mary Lou 681]

So sad

[Ban Hammer 13,347]

[Reba 2]

The guy who recently killed his fellow American soldiers was 44. It seems the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has somewhat older average soldiers serving than in previous wars somewhat changing the old saying that old men start the wars and the young men fight them.

Because a lot of them were recalled after 9/11, and a lot re-upped, as Hutchison did.

My husband would have too, except he was still recovering from cancer treatments at the time. Which I think he still regrets at times. Selfishly, I don't.

RIP Maj. Hutchison.