Story filed 4-07-05
By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs
CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq -- Soldiers with the 278th Regimental Combat Team here Wednesday remembered the heroism and sacrifice of Staff Sgt. Stephen Kennedy, who died in action during a firefight Monday afternoon while helping his unit repel an insurgent ambush south of Balad Ruz.
Soldiers shed tears, shared hugs and even a little laughter while describing the Oak Ridge, Tenn., resident, who would have turned 36 on Wednesday, as a man dedicated to serving his country.
"He was a soldier's soldier, there is no doubt," said 1st Sgt. William Barnes, the top enlisted officer with 1st Squadron's Deacon Company, Staff Sgt. Kennedy's unit based in Lenoir City, Tenn. "He loved to train. He loved everything about the military."
An 11-year military veteran, Staff Sgt. Kennedy spent most of his adult life in uniform. He participated in the first Persian Gulf War during a long stint with the Marine Corps as a mortar man, joined the Tennessee National Guard in 1998 and became a full-time employee at his unit's armory in Lenoir City about a year ago.
Back in Oak Ridge, family and friends mourned the loss of Staff Sgt. Kennedy, marking his birthday with a balloon and flowers on his mailbox, The Associated Press reported.
A chaplain and military escort arrived at his family's doorstep Monday night to inform his wife, Tiffany, and their four children of his death.
"The only words that went through my mind were, 'Oh, God, why Stephen?"' she told the AP on Wednesday.
Mrs. Kennedy's voice cracked as she talked about her husband of nearly four years.
"Whether he had this job or not, he was always a hero to us," she said. "My husband loved his job. He loved his country, and he loved his family. And (he) felt that going over there and doing what he was doing was right, because it was for his family and it was for his country."
A TRADITION OF SERVICE
Staff Sgt. Kennedy was from a military family. His father, Bob Kennedy, of Rockledge, Fla., is a retired 28-year veteran of the Navy's submarine fleet. His older brother, Robert Jr., lives in New York and has made the Coast Guard his career. And his younger sister, Bobbie, who lives in Connecticut, is married to a career Navy man.
Capt. Mitch Murray said Staff Sgt. Kennedy actually read thick Army regulation manuals for enjoyment at night. His vast knowledge of military facts and rules, along with the pleasure he took in answering questions on any topic, had the men in his platoon jokingly calling him "Cliff" after the postman in the television comedy "Cheers" who liked to rattle off facts.
"They tried to stump him on trivial stuff," said Capt. Murray, who hired Staff Sgt. Kennedy at the armory. "Now I don't know if his answers were always right, but he always came up with something."
Sgt. 1st Class Tony Lindsey, who also worked at the armory before coming here, said Staff Sgt. Kennedy's military skills and know-how were genuine. He said Staff Sgt. Kennedy was consumed with improving his leadership skills and becoming a better soldier. He was promoted four times in five years, record show.
"When he committed to something, he committed to it 200 percent," Sgt. 1st Class Lindsey said.
Capt. Murray said that devotion showed up in the way Staff Sgt. Kennedy took care of the lower-ranking soldiers in his squad.
"It was all about the guys," Capt. Murray said. "It was never about Steve. Men of his dedication and selflessness -- there aren't many like that around."
Those attributes revealed themselves Monday among the canals and ditches Staff Sgt. Kennedy was forced to defend and then counterattack after heavily armed insurgents opened fire on a joint patrol of U.S. and Iraqi army soldiers.
After the battle was over, the 17 dead insurgents were all that was left of a terrorist cell suspected of carrying out numerous attacks and bombings on both Iraqi civilians and security forces in Balad Ruz.
"Whatever reward he gets is not enough," said Sgt. 1st Class Clay Rader. "They did everything right. We won the fight, but we still lost because we lost two (soldiers). Sometimes we do our job well, but some still don't come home."
A second U.S. army soldier from another unit died in the attack, and two more 278th soldiers were wounded. Both wounded men were in stable condition Wednesday, officials said.
REMEMBERING FALLEN PATRIOT
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said Staff Sgt. Kennedy "displayed extraordinary courage" through his long service in the military and in two conflicts.
"We must all say a thank you," Rep. Wamp said in a statement. "Oak Ridge will sorely miss this great American patriot, and we will never forget his heroic sacrifice."
Soldiers in Staff Sgt. Kennedy's unit said the only thing that consumed him more than the military was his wife and their four children, Stephen, Morgan, Logan and Ragan. Staff Sgt. Kennedy recently joked with soldiers about the children's television programs and movies such as the Teletubbies, The Wiggles and Finding Nemo he said he watched when he was at home.
But Staff Sgt. Kennedy knew why his military duty had taken him away from home. In an interview conducted last year while in Kuwait preparing for the convoy into Iraq, he explained why he was back in the Middle East again more than a dozen years later.
"The mission then was to give the people in Kuwait their country back, and that is what we did," he said. "And this President Bush now wants the Iraqi people to have their own freedom, and that is what we are going to do."
Staff Sgt. Kennedy is the second 278th soldier to die since their deployment to Iraq late last year. Sgt. Paul W. Thomason III, 37, of Jefferson City, was killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb outside Kirkuk on March 20.
Staff writer Dorie Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com
On the Web: Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp.
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