Army Pvt. 2 Kelley S. Prewitt

Died April 6, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Birmingham, Ala.; assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga.; killed in action in Iraq.

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When Jeff Estes, a coach and teacher at Erwin High School in Birmingham, Ala., heard that Kelley Prewitt had been killed in Iraq, he instantly remembered a young man with an ever-present grin and a great sense of humor.

“He was a great kid,” Estes said. “Kelley’s sense of humor would have people laughing in my class. He would say something or the other that would make you mad, but a few minutes later, you’d walk out of class and laugh. He was a smart aleck, but with a great sense of humor.”

Prewitt, 24, an Army private with an armor regiment, was killed by enemy fire April 6. He had enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was deployed in January 2003.

“He was a kid that worked hard,” said Estes, who also was Prewitt’s soccer coach. “Kelley came from a real good family, and they taught him the things he needed to do. I suspect that had something to do with him going into the military.”

Paul Prewitt said his nephew was a typical teenager who worked at his father’s battery store after high school and liked to water ski and ride his personal watercraft on Lake Logan Martin, where his father owned a mobile home. His father, Steve Prewitt of suburban Birmingham, said his son “loved the lake and he loved the outdoors.”

In his last letter home, he told his father he wished he was back in Alabama and that it wouldn’t be long before he’d be calling for a ride home.

— USA Today, Associated Press