Army Pfc. Gavin J. Colburn

Died April 22, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Frankfort, Ohio; assigned to the 542nd Transportation Company, Army Reserve, Kingsbury, Ind.; killed April 22 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle as he was traveling along a supply route in Iraq.

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Ohio soldier killed by roadside bomb in Iraq

Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ohio — A 20-year-old Ohio soldier who planned to go to college and study law was killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy.

Pfc. Gavin Colburn, of Frankfort, was killed Friday, the military said. Frankfort is about 40 miles south of Columbus.

Colburn had been serving with the Army Reserve’s 542nd Transportation Company, based in Kingsbury, Indiana.

His mother, Tina Stevens, said the last time she spoke with her son, he talked as if he wasn’t in any immediate danger. He was last home on leave in February, and told family and friends things were going well in the Army.

“He was my whole world, and he was going somewhere,” Stevens said. “The one thing that he did tell me was that if anything ever happened, he was where he wanted to be ... (and) I should go on because he was doing what he wanted to do.”

Mike Patrick was Colburn’s basketball coach at Adena High School. He said Colburn was a quiet person with great physical energy. The Army was going to provide his ticket to the world, he said.

“He was very attracted to the education portion where he could possibly go to college once he got out,” Patrick said. “He was a kid with a plan and the Army was part of that plan.”

In the gym at Adena, 15 to 20 flags commemorate all the students serving in combat, Patrick said. Colburn was the first Adena student killed, he said.

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Family, friends bid farewell to fallen soldier

Gavin Colburn joined the Army Reserve for the opportunities it afforded — he wanted to go to college.

Pfc. Colburn, 20, who was with the 542nd Transportation Company, Army Reserve, Kingsbury, Ind.; died April 22 when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy.

At Colburn’s funeral Saturday in Frankfort, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus, family and friends remembered a soldier who died to save a friend.

When the bomb exploded near his truck, Colburn threw himself onto Michelle Pfister, effectively shielding her from the blast, Army officials said.

Pfister’s father, Brian Pfister, recalled what Colburn had told him the last time they spoke when Michelle called home.

“He told us that he would watch out for her and take care of her,” Pfister said. “He did.”

— Associated Press