Steven Tudor remembered

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

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

As of Tuesday, 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 Monday 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."

From the York Dispatch

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Steven Tudor reported killed in Iraq