Army Spc. Richard K. Trevithick

Died April 14, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Gaines, Mich.; assigned to the 9th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; killed April 14 when an improvised explosive device exploded near his convoy vehicle in Balad, Iraq.

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When Spc. Richard Trevithick learned he would be posted in Iraq, he moved up his wedding to his high school sweetheart, Kristin, 21. "He thought the world of me, and I thought the world of him," Kristin Trevithick said. The couple married Dec. 12 while Richard Trevithick, 20, was on leave from his base in Schweinfurt, Germany. "He said that if anything happened (to him), he wanted to know that he was married to the woman he loved," said his father, Richard Trevithick. The Gaines, Mich., soldier was killed April 14 by an explosive near his convoy vehicle in Balad, Iraq. He graduated from high school in 2002 and enlisted in the Army after deciding he wasn't ready for college. He wanted to go to college after his discharge and pursue a career in law enforcement. The young soldier had arranged for his wife to receive a bouquet of roses if anything happened to him. The flowers arrived April 15. "He talked to her the day before he died and told her he'd spoil her when he got home," his father said.

— Associated Press