Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven J. Chevalier

Died July 9, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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35, of Flint, Mich.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died July 9 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained in Samarra, Iraq, when his patrol was struck by a grenade.

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Soldier killed in Iraq had received Bronze Star

The Associated Press

FLINT, Mich. — A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier was awarded the Bronze Star days before he was killed last week in Iraq.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Steven J. Chevalier died July 9 of wounds sustained when his patrol vehicle was struck by a grenade in Samarra.

The 35-year-old was awarded the Bronze Star for "great leadership, hard work and personal drive," according to the Army. Chevalier's platoon helped capture more than 40 insurgents, and he helped discover 10 improvised explosive devices and eight weapons caches, as well as other accomplishments, the Army said.

Family and friends said Chevalier, of Flint, didn't talk much about his missions overseas — he was in the middle of his third tour in Iraq — and didn't boast about his accomplishments.

"He asked me not to share it with anyone," Yolanda Oliver, a high school classmate who learned of the honor from her friend just before his death, told The Flint Journal. "He did a lot for other people but didn't want accolades. He had a big heart and was just humble about everything that he did."

Chevalier was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm ordered flags to be flown at half-staff yesterday to honor Chevalier. He will be buried Monday at Fort Benning, Ga.

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Aunt: Soldier killed in Iraq was natural leader

The Associated Press

FLINT, Mich. — Family members say a Fort Campbell soldier killed in Iraq was a natural leader.

Sgt. Steven J. Chevalier of Flint, Mich., was killed Wednesday in a grenade attack in Iraq.

The Defense Department said the 35-year-old Chevalier (sha-vel-EE’-ay) was on patrol in Samarra when the grenade hit his vehicle.

His aunt, Carole Miller, said her nephew was “always concerned” about the men under his command. She told the Flint Journal that “He wouldn’t expect his men to do anything he wouldn’t do.”

Miller said Chevalier didn’t talk much about his overseas assignments when he was home because he wanted to protect his two daughters.

Other survivors include Chevalier’s wife, Geneva, and his mother, Dorothy Carol Chevalier.

Steven Chevalier was part of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. He was based at Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.