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Ft. Riley Major Oldest Killed In Iraq
Homemade Bomb Goes Off Near 60-Year-Old's Vehicle

POSTED: 12:57 pm CDT May 14, 2009
UPDATED: 9:23 pm CDT May 14, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The oldest soldier to be killed in Iraq fought in Vietnam and decided to re-enlist at the age of 59 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of his wife, according to his brother.

Army Maj. Steven Hutchison, 60, was killed in Iraq on Sunday after a homemade bomb went off near his vehicle in Al Farr, according to the Department of Defense.

Richard Hutchison of Scottsdale told The Associated Press on Thursday that his big brother Steven wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 attacks, but that his wife Candy didn't want him to.

But when Candy died of breast cancer, "a part of him died," so he signed up again in July 2007, according to his brother and the Army.


"He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said. "For somebody to go back into the military at 60 years old, obviously I didn't want him to do it, but he had a mind of his own and that's what he wanted to do. He's been a soldier his whole life."

He said his brother never explained why he wanted to re-enlist, but that "I'm guessing it had something to do with them coming into our country and killing our people."

"He wanted to go back in," he added. "He wanted to do his share."

He said Steven Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year after he re-enlisted and went to Iraq in October as a team leader of about a dozen soldiers who would train Iraqi soldiers how to fight. But, he said his brother's mission changed and that he was working to secure Iraq's southern border instead.

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.

Richard Hutchison said Steven was a great big brother and a best friend who was always looking out for him. "He took care of me," he said.

"I was worried about him. I didn't want him to go (to Iraq)," he said through tears, adding that he loved his brother "so much."

He said Steven Hutchison worked as a college professor of psychology at a couple of California universities and then worked at a private health care corporation in Arizona before he retired a few years ago.

Records at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles show that Hutchison taught in the psychology department there on and off between 1988 and 1996. Hutchison's resume, provided by the school, shows he was a lecturer at California State University in Long Beach, Calif., and taught at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.

Hutchison was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Long Beach. Steven and Richard have a half brother and half-sister living in Michigan. Steven Hutchison married four times, and was married to Candy for 10 years before she died. He had no children.

Richard Hutchison said his brother will be buried next to Candy in Scottsdale, and that a funeral is tentatively planned for Tuesday.

Hutchison was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Reminding everyone to wear Red on Friday's

Service honors fallen officersBuckman died after Greensburg tornadoBy Peg WilliamsSpecial to The Capital-JournalPublished Saturday, May 10, 2008

Officer Robert Timothy "Tim" Buckman's name is comprised of 20 letters, which now are set in stone, along with the thousands of letters that make up the 258 names engraved on the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial.

On Friday, family members, law enforcement personnel and friends honored the memory of the men and women who have died in the line of duty by attending the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial Service.

 
Anthony S. Bush / The Capital-Journal

Sally Buckman, wife of the late Robert Timothy "Tim" Buckman, a Macksville police officer; granddaughters Brianna Buckman, 8, and Mattison Buckman, 5; Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; and Attorney General Stephen Six walk to the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial on Friday on the north side of the Statehouse during a ceremony to honor officer Buckman. He was killed while trying to warn people in south-central Kansas in the storm that devastated Greensburg a year ago.

Buckman sustained fatal injuries May 4, 2007, while trying to alert residents in south-central Kansas of a tornado that later hit Greensburg. His squad car was caught up by a tornado and hurled hundreds of yards. He died May 8.

Buckman's sister Laura Stimatze said the service meant a lot to the family.

"We were very impressed with all of the officers that were here for us today," she said. "We are so honored to have been here and to see the support everybody has shown for the family."

The memorial service began in the second-floor rotunda of the Statehouse, where Gov. Kathleen Sebelius expressed her gratitude for the law enforcement officers of Kansas.

"I want to say thank you. Thank you for risking your lives to save ours. Thank you for protecting those who can't protect themselves, Sebelius said. "Our state is the great state it is because of you."

Sebelius — who had ordered flags flown at half-mast Friday and again next Friday to honor fallen officers — then went on to speak of Buckman, the sole officer whose name was added to the memorial this year.

"Officer Buckman did what he had done so many times before and as law enforcement officers do each and every day, Sebelius said. "He put the safety of his own life on the line in order to protect his community."

That is a fact that Buckman's daughters December Cole and Kylee Buckman are proud of.

"He was a great man. He died doing what he loved to do," Buckman said.

"And he always thought of everyone else first," Cole said. "The memorial service was very honorable for our Dad."