Army Cpl. Stephen S. Thompson

Died February 14, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

23, of Tulsa, Okla.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Feb. 14 in Baghdad of injuries sustained from a gunshot wound.

---

Service held for Tulsa soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa soldier who died in Iraq was recalled Monday during his funeral service for his infectious smile and sunny disposition.

Cpl. Stephen Scott Thompson, 23, died Feb. 14 in Baghdad from a gunshot wound. Larry Delay, the pastor of Crossroads Fellowship in Bixby, said Thompson loved to hunt, fish and to be around people.

Delay said during the service at Asbury United Methodist Church that Thompson, who graduated from Memorial High School in 2004, joined the military to make something of himself, and “he did that.”

Thompson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. The unit had deployed to Iraq last March and was set to return home within weeks.

Thompson had been able to return home on leave just before Christmas.

Brig. Gen. Ross Ridge, the deputy commander of Fort Sill, said Thompson enlisted in the Army on June 27, 2006, and went through basic training at the southwestern Oklahoma base.

Ridge said Thompson “constantly exuded enthusiasm” and always sought more responsibility to lead men. To his fellow soldiers, Thompson “was an instant friend and confidante,” the general said.

“He was a person everyone loved to be around and everyone enjoyed being with” him,” Ridge said. “He made people laugh, and it was probably that infectious smile that drew people to him.”

Thompson was buried at Floral Haven Cemetery, with Army pallbearers from Fort Sill escorting his flag-draped coffin to the gravesite. A honor guard fired rifle volleys and a bugler played “Taps.”

He is survived by his mother, Tresa; his father, Philip, and two brothers, Austin and Christopher, both of Tulsa.

Thompson’s awards and decorations included the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Overseas Service Ribbon.

---

Army Cpl. Stephen S. Thompson remembered

The Associated Press

Philip Thompson said his son joined the military three years ago to improve himself.

“I am so proud of my son. Stephen became a man the day he joined this young man changed overnight. I remember when I went to his graduation from boot camp, I couldn’t hardly believe who the person that was standing in front of me,” Philip Thompson said.

Stephen S. Thompson, 23, of Tulsa, Okla., died Feb. 14 in Baghdad of a gunshot wound. He was a 2004 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood.

“He was an outstanding young man, hilarious to be around. Oh, God, he had the greatest sense of humor. He could always bring a smile to my face,” said Sara Wilson, whose husband fought along Thompson.

On his MySpace site, Thompson wrote that he probably would make the military a career and eventually go to Germany.

“But I am still undecided,” he wrote, “because I have a lot to be thankful for back home.”

Thompson wrote that he loved to hunt, fish and ride dirt bikes.

He described himself as very social and easy to get along with.

He also wrote that he has a red-nose pit bull, “and he is my boy.”

He also is survived by his mother, Tresa.