A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran became the oldest Army soldier yest to die in Iraq after he was killed by a roadside bomb, the military said.
Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Arizona, wanted to enlist immediately after 9/11, but his wife begged him not to, according to his brother. After her death, Hutchison rejoined the Army in July 2007.
"He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said.
The Pentagon said Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said Thursday that Hutchison was the oldest Army soldier killed in Iraq. An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Hutchison is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.
Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year before deploying to Iraq in October, heading a 12-soldier team that trained the Iraqi military, his brother said. Later, he was assigned to help secure Iraq's southern border.
Hutchinson, who grew up in California, taught psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on and off between 1988 and 1996, and lectured and taught at two other colleges, according to school records. He then worked at a health care corporation in Arizona before retiring and re-entering the service, his brother said.
Hutchison was part of the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.
