Army Sgt. James D. Stewart

Died June 21, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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29, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; assigned to the 57th Transportation Company, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; killed June 21 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military cargo truck in Rutbah, Iraq.

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Ga. native dies during second Iraq deployment

Associated Press

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — An Army sergeant on his second deployment to Iraq died when an explosive detonated near his vehicle, the Defense Department said Thursday.

James D. Stewart, 29, of Chattanooga, Tenn., suffered injuries Tuesday in Rutbah while traveling in a convoy to a coalition facility. He was pronounced dead at a military hospital in South Korea.

“He believed in this war,” his mother, Rachel Barrett of St. Petersburg, Fla., told The Tampa Tribune. “He seriously thought we had to stay there.”

Stewart was a motor transport operator assigned to the Fort Drum-based 57th Transportation Company, 10th Support Brigade, 10th Mountain Division.

A statement from Fort Drum said Stewart entered the Army in October 2002 and joined the division in October 2003.

A native of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., Stewart deployed to Iraq for a year starting in May 2003. His most recent deployment began in December.

He previously received a Purple Heart.

As a civilian, Stewart had been a truck driver.