Army Staff Sgt. Steven R. Tudor

Died April 21, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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36, of Dunmore, Pa.; assigned to the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 21 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using indirect fire during combat operations.

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Family says Fort Drum soldier killed

The Associated Press

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — An Army veteran who served three tours of duty in Iraq during two wars was killed April 21 when a rocket-propelled grenade destroyed the Humvee he was driving in.

Army Master Sgt. Steven Tudor’s death April 21 in Baghdad was confirmed by his mother, Mary Ann Jones, of Yucca Valley, Calif.

As of April 23, the Defense Department had not yet released the details of his death.

Tudor, 36, of Watertown, enlisted in the Army after graduating in 1989 from Dunmore High School near Scranton, Pa.

He served in Saudi Arabia in 1991, driving fuel trucks to service tanks and other military vehicles on the front lines of Operation Desert Storm. He also served in Bosnia and South Korea and helped victims of Hurricane Andrew along the U.S. Gulf Coast, Jones said.

He married a fellow soldier, Wanda, five years ago and they settled near Fort Drum, she said.

“He thought the service was a great place to have a career,” she said. His two younger brothers, Juan and Mario, enlisted in the Marines, she said.

Tudor was sent back to Iraq in 2004 for a year. He started his third tour last August, but recently learned it would be extended through November.

After 18 years in the military, he was looking forward to retirement in two years, his mother said.

A military funeral for Tudor will be held April 30 at Fort Drum. He is survived by his wife and two stepchildren.

“He didn’t say whether the war was wrong or right; he just did what he had to do,” Jones told The Times-Tribune of Scranton. “He was proud to serve his country.”