Army Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever

Died April 8, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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36, of Pendleton, Ore.; assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Ft. Stewart, Ga.; killed in action in Iraq.

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Robert Stever’s family in Pendleton, Ore., saw glimpses of him when NBC-TV reporter David Bloom reported from the Iraq desert.

Stever, 36, was known as Tony. He had shared a tent with Bloom, who died last week of a blood clot. Stever died April 8 in an ambush as his tank-recovery crew retrieved a disabled vehicle.

His wife, Cyndi Stever, told the East Oregonian newspaper that her husband had been in the Army 13 years. He served two tours in Bosnia and one in Macedonia. Iraq was his first time in combat. They celebrated their 10th anniversary March 6 with a long-distance phone call. They have a daughter, Nicole, 10.

“He always had a smile,” said his grandfather, Ray Stever, 79, of Pendleton. “He was always willing to help the other person.” One example: Stever gave CPR to a heart attack victim along a Georgia roadside about 1" years ago.

Two weeks ago today, Stever borrowed Bloom’s satellite phone to call his grandparents. They missed the call by five minutes, but he left word on their answering machine.

“We cherish it,” Ray Stever said. “Tony said he was OK. Everything was going fine, and ‘Don’t worry, if anything happens, Cyndi will call, and I love you.’ “

— USA Today and The Associated Press