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Iraq

In 40 days, GI would have been home

Army 1st Lt. Kevin Joseph Smith e-mailed his fiancee every day from Iraq. On Thursday, he didn't.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published December 11, 2005

	Army 1st Lt. Kevin Joseph of Brandon was killed in Iraq.

BRANDON - The family of Army 1st Lt. Kevin Joseph Smith gathered Saturday at his mother's home to mourn.

Inside, a dozen family members prayed with a minister from Immanuel Lutheran Church & School. Nobody else was admitted into the home. His stepfather Ancil Stephens even shooed away the dog.

"No, you can't come in here," he said to the dog, closing the door. "There are too many tears in here."

Smith, a 28-year-old West Point graduate from Brandon, was killed Thursday by a bomb in Baghdad, about 40 days before he was scheduled to return home.

He had been in Iraq for about six months, and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga.

Smith was killed after insurgents detonated an explosive as Smith's convoy of engineers went along the Tigris River to a power plant, his father told the Associated Press on Friday. The blast also injured three other soldiers, he said.

Smith died within 30 seconds, his mother told the AP. 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,"' she said.

Last week, Smith sent an e-mail to his father, marking the number of days before his return. "Forty days and counting," Kevin Smith said in the e-mail.

"We were all counting the days," Clifford Smith told the AP on Friday.

On Saturday, Stephens remembered how his strapping stepson would come home on school breaks from West Point with a hearty appetite. He and his friends sat in the kitchen and devoured the smoked chicken he cooked.

The former Brandon High School student and his mother were close. "Like this," Stephens said, crossing his fingers. "Very tight."

Smith followed in the footsteps of his father, who also served in the military and participated in the Persian Gulf War, Stephens said.

His athletic skill helped him get a scholarship to West Point, one of the nation's most prestigious colleges. Many considered Smith to be the best goalkeeper in Hillsborough County when he played for Brandon High School's soccer team.

"He was dedicated and he was a finisher," Stephens said. "If he started anything, he was going to finish it."

He was devoted to his fiancee and their home in Savannah, Ga., which they bought and renovated together. Before he received his assignment, they had planned to marry this Christmas.

Every day he was stationed in Baghdad, Stephens said, Smith would send his fiancee a quick e-mail telling her the same thing: "Have a good day, baby."

Thursday was different.

"She didn't receive an e-mail, and she knew," Stephens said.

The family will hold a memorial service 4 p.m. Monday at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School in Brandon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813-226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 11, 2005, 02:00:33]