Soldier’s final last words: “Look after my men.”
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — A soldier from Brandon died in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near the convoy he was escorting, his father said.
Clifford Smith said Friday that 1st Lt. Kevin J. Smith, 28, was killed after insurgents detonated an explosive as the convoy of engineers went along the Tigris River to a power plant. The blast also injured three other soldiers, the elder Smith said.
Smith died within 30 seconds, said his mother, Georgianna Stephens-Smith. The bomb tore a hole in the Humvee and caused massive injury to his right shoulder and upper body, she said. “His last words were: ‘Look after my men.”’
Smith, a West Point graduate, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Ga.
“His commanding officer said that in Baghdad, there are two routes that are quite dangerous,” Clifford Smith said. “This was one of them.”
Despite the danger, Smith said his son rarely discussed his fears.
“He said, ‘When my time comes, my time comes. I could be killed in a car driving down I-95,”’ Smith recalled.
He had been in Iraq for about six months and had less than six weeks before the end of his tour of duty.
“Forty days and counting,” Kevin Smith said in an e-mail received Thursday by his father.
“We were all counting the days,” Clifford Smith said Friday. His son’s fiancee, Dana Scherry, was en route from Savannah, Ga., to join them.
On Friday morning, Smith took down the yellow ribbon he had hung in his house.
“He really is home,” he said. “He’s at home with the Lord.” |
From the Orlando Sentinel orlandosentinel.com 12/10/2005
Roadside bomb kills Floridian in Baghdad
By Orlando Sentinel Staff | Orlando Sentinel and Willoughby Mariano
PUBLISHED: December 10, 2005 at 12:00 AM EST | UPDATED: October 24, 2018 at 6:40 AM EDT
A Central Florida soldier died after a homemade bomb exploded near his Army vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq, the Department of Defense said late Friday.
First Lt. Kevin J. Smith, 28, born and raised in Brandon, died Thursday while escorting a convoy of electrical engineers along the Tigris River to a power plant, said his father, Clifford Smith of east Orange County.
An insurgent detonated the explosive as the convoy passed, and Smith suffered massive injuries to his right shoulder and chest. Three other soldiers were injured, his father said.
“His commanding officer said that in Baghdad, there are two routes that are quite dangerous,” said Smith, 57, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. “This was one of them.”
About 90 Floridians have died in Iraq.
Smith was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Ga.
A memorial service will be held Monday at 4 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 2913 John Moore Road, Brandon, which is east of Tampa.
When Clifford Smith returned home from work Thursday and found an Army officer and chaplain sitting in his driveway, he knew his son was dead.
It was a possibility he and his son rarely broached — not in Kevin Smith’s twice-weekly e-mails home or during telephone conversations. Kevin Smith, a West Point graduate, never even expressed fear.
What little he did say was matter-of-fact.
“He said, ‘When my time comes, my time comes. I could be killed in a car driving down I-95,’ ” Clifford Smith said.
In the end, Clifford Smith said, his son died for a cause he believed in.
“He believed in God, and he believed in his country, and he believed in his family,” Clifford Smith said.
As Kevin Smith was growing up, his father never imagined he would attend college at West Point and become an army officer.
The quiet boy grew like a weed, and soccer coaches recruited him to play goalie because of his height. He grew to be 6 feet 4 inches tall.
While attending Brandon High School, he became a disciplined player. Clifford Smith spent hours with his son on the field, videotaping his moves so Kevin Smith could critique his work.
Ultimately, Kevin Smith became the goalkeeper for Florida’s team in the U.S. Junior Olympics.
Kevin Smith attended Lynn University in Boca Raton for one year on a soccer scholarship, then abruptly changed course and decided to go to West Point. When he returned home after graduating from West Point in 2002, he was different.
The quiet teen had become a man of conviction. “He totally turned inside out,” his father said.
When he went to Iraq about six months ago, he was eager to serve.
Clifford Smith and Kevin’s stepmother, Linda Joann Smith, 56, hung an American flag at their house and put up a yellow ribbon that wouldn’t come down until their son’s return in January.
Kevin Smith’s time in Iraq was hard on his father. Each time a roadside bomb exploded, he saw his son’s face.
Thursday, that vision came true. Friday morning, he and Linda Smith took down the yellow ribbon. They decided it was time.
“He really is home,” Clifford Smith said. “He’s at home with the Lord.”
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