Army Staff Sgt. Kevin D. Davis

Died April 8, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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40, of Lebanon, Ore.; assigned to G Troop, 82nd Cavalry, Oregon Army National Guard, Redmond, Ore.; died April 8 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Hawijah, Iraq.

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Oregon soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

LEBANON, Ore. — Staff Sgt. Kevin Dewayne Davis of Lebanon died after a homemade bomb exploded near his Humvee in Hawijah, Iraq, his family said Sunday.

Davis, 40, a 14-year veteran of the National Guard and a member of G Troop, was evacuated to a field hospital in Kirkuk and then to a secondary hospital in Balad where he died of a heart attack while being treated on Friday.

“He’d give the shirt off his back if he could. He’d give you anything,” his wife, Robbin, said at a news conference Sunday at the National Guard Armory in Lebanon.

Another member of his unit, Spc. James Mitchell of Hermiston, received minor injuries in the explosion.

“We received a report that the insurgents responsible were captured,” Maj. Arnold Strong, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard.

Davis was born Dec. 3, 1964 in Nyssa, Ore., to Darrell and Nellie Davis. He spent his childhood and school years in Albany, graduating from West Albany High School.

He worked at the Linn-Benton Juvenile Detention Facility and was a reserve officer with the Lebanon Police Department. He wanted to become a full-time officer when he returned from Iraq.

He is survived by his parents, wife Robbin Ann Davis, son, Drew Deibele, daughters Laurynn Davis and Makenna Nicole Davis, brother Brian Davis and sister Shelley Davis-Moore.

His family said he was an avid fisherman and softball player who spent much of his spare time studying the Bible.

Robbin Davis said almost every photo she received of her husband was of him with Iraqi children, and that he was he was proud of his role in starting a new school there.

“I got a letter home that said, ‘Now I know what this is about. Now I know why I’m here,”’ she said.

Davis served with Troop F of Lebanon until G Troop deployed and needed more soldiers, Strong said. He left the United States in late November 2004.

According to the Albany Democrat-Herald newspaper, Spc. Trent Stuart of Bend, a member of Davis’ unit, sent an e-mail to National Guard officials following Davis’ death calling him “the strongest man I ever met.”

“It’s such a tragedy to lose such a great man,” Stuart wrote. “He was a fighter and he was a winner.”

Davis is the 39th soldier with Oregon ties to die in Iraq.

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Mourners gather to honor fallen soldier

LEBANON, Ore. — An Oregon National Guard soldier killed in Iraq was remembered Thursday for his commitment to children, the hot meals he cooked for fellow soldiers and the service he provided his community and nation.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Davis, 40, of Lebanon was killed after his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb April 8. He was a member of the Redmond-based G Troop, 82nd Cavalry, serving near Kirkuk, Iraq.

At the First Assembly of God church, Staff Sgt. Jessie Scharder, who was Davis’ roommate in Iraq, said Davis touched everyone. He said Davis loved his family, his friends and the soldiers he took care of.

“He was an example of what a non-commissioned officer should be,” Scharder said. “His nature was to take care of people. After we returned from a mission, he always had something hot for us to eat.”

Lebanon Police Chief Mike Healey recalled Davis — a reserve officer in the department — as a man who tried to improve the lives of troubled children. Davis wanted to become a full-time officer when he returned from Iraq.

Davis’ daughter described her father as a “nice, loving, caring man.” Every night before bed, he sang “You Are My Sunshine.”

The Davis family asked through military representatives that the names of Davis’ children not be mentioned because Davis’ wife, Robbin, works for the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski told the nearly 1,000 people attending that “today is a day of broken hearts. I tell you that Kevin Davis was an American hero, whose spirit is as near today as it was when he last held you in his arms.”

Later, at a graveside service, Kulongoski presented the Oregon flag to Davis’ widow, and Gen. Raymond C. Byrne Jr. followed with the American flag. Members of the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Department played “Amazing Grace” on their drums and bagpipes. When they finished, members of the family moved to the casket, placing red roses on it, and then others came forward to do the same.

Others just came to touch the sergeant’s casket.

— Associated Press