Brandon Stout remembered

Two soldiers knocked on her door in Grand Rapids on Monday night, bearing news that broke Laura Hinken's heart.

Her son-in-law, Army Spc. Brandon Stout, died in Iraq on Monday.

"I just wanted to shut it. It wasn't any pleasant thing," said Hinken, 47, who regarded the 2002 graduate of Kent City High School -- on the border of Muskegon and Kent counties -- as a son.

"Oh, man, if I gave birth to him, I could not love him any more. You met him, and you liked him right away.

"He was the most wonderful husband that I could ask a daughter to have."

Her daughter, Audrey, who lives with Laura and her husband, Gary, learned at the same time that her husband had died.

Stout, 23, died of wounds suffered when an explosive detonated near his vehicle, the military said Thursday.

He was attached to the Kingsford-based 46th Military Police Company and was activated in July. He deployed first to Fort Dix, N.J. and reached Iraq in October. He was serving in the Baghdad area, performing security missions and assisting Iraqi police with their duties.

Stout joined the Guard in June 2003, motivated, Laura Hinken said, to be part of something bigger than himself.

"He just really felt called to serve. He had hoped to be a chaplain's assistant when he joined the Guard. But he was very proud to be an MP," she said.

Stout's squad leader, Staff Sgt. William Paine, said he set a good example for other soldiers to follow. He got to know Stout over the course of two years, as Stout drilled with the Owosso-based 144th Military Police Company before he was attached to the 46th.

"He was always the one to jump forward. If something needed to be done, he would just jump up and do it," Paine said."I wish I had 10 more soldiers just like him."

Paine said he was still reeling from word of Stout's death.

"I am still devastated. I am on the rotation to go (to Iraq) but it hurt because I wanted to be there with him.

"It's hard to explain, but we form like a family. It was like losing one of your kids."

Stout's mother, Tracy Anderson, 39, of Kent City, was comforted by the fact that her son believed in what he was doing in Iraq.

"He knew it was his job, and he was proud to serve," Anderson said.

"He didn't complain. He didn't try to get out of it. He was very proud to want to go and serve."

Stout and Audrey Hinken met after high school, while both attended Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing.

"Religion was an extremely important part of his life," Laura Hinken said.

The two were married in May 2005 and Audrey moved back in with her parents after he shipped out.

At Kent City High School, Stout was on the 2002 Quiz Bowl team that captured the state title for Class C and D schools.

Kent City Principal Fred Groenke said Stout made an impression during his years at the school.

"All of us recall that he had a really vivacious personality," Groenke said. "He was always upbeat. He stood up for what he believed in."

Kent City teacher Rhonda Vanderwest recalled Stout as a sometimes-irrepressible senior in the school choir.

"He stood up for his faith and he stood up for what he believed in," she said. "He wasn't shy about anything."

News of his death traveled fast and hit hard in the Kent City area, she said.

"It just hit in the pit of the stomach. To have someone from our small town -- somebody you know personally, someone so young and vibrant -- it's just really been in my heart all week."

From the Chronicle

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