Army Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr.

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr., 34, of Blairsville, Pa.

SSgt. Stivison was assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Oct. 15, 2009 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an IED. Also killed were Spc. Jesus O. Flores Jr., Spc. Daniel C. Lawson and Pfc. Brandon M. Styer.

The Associated Press -- FORT CARSON, Colo.—The Department of Defense says four Fort Carson soldiers have died of injuries suffered in an attack in Afghanistan.

Military officials say the soldiers died Thursday in Kandahar province after their vehicle was struck with a bomb.

The Defense Department identified the soldiers as 34-year-old Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr. of Blairsville, Pa.; 28-year-old Spc. Jesus O. Flores Jr. of La Mirada, Calif.; 33-year-old Spc. Daniel C. Lawson of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; and 19-year-old Pfc. Brandon M. Styer of Lancaster, Pa.

All were assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs. They were stationed in Iraq from Feb. 15 through May, when they were sent to Afghanistan.

At least 28 soldiers from the post have been killed in Afghanistan, including eight who were killed in an attack Oct. 3 and one who was killed in a separate attack the next day.

Styer and Lawson both joined the Army last year, and Flores joined in 2003, Fort Carson said.

Stivison's survivors include his wife, Eryn, and sons Blaze, 8, and Drew, 6, The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported. Stivison's mother-in-law, Beth Leaver, described him as a gentle giant.

The 13-year Army veteran had been stationed in South Korea, Somalia and had twice served in Iraq, The Gazette reported. Stivison was home on leave in September.

"When he was deployed I told him, can't you go to the back of the line? And he just smiled and said, 'I would never do that.' We are so proud of him. He is our biggest hero," Leaver told The Gazette.

Stivison’s wife, Eryn, learned of her husband’s death Thursday and relatives flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware last week to bring the body back to Colorado Springs for services next week. Stivison had been married for nine years and had two sons, William Blaze, 8, and Andrew, 6.

NATO headquarters in Afghanistan said Friday that four U.S. troops died in an Oct. 15 bombing in “southern Afghanistan.” That region includes the city of Khandahar, which has been the site of a weeks-long offensive between American soldiers and Marines and Taliban militants.

Fort Carson’s 4th Engineer Battalion has been patrolling roads in that area to spot and destroy bombs and has been the target of frequent attacks and bombings.

“All we’ve been told was that he was the commander of the lead vehicle on Highway One near Kandahar when they hit an IED and they were killed instantly,” said Stivison's mother, Jan Stivison, of Blairsville.

“It was such a shock,” Leaver said. “We never worried about him, because he was in control. He was like that in everything. I could ask him to stand on his head, and he would say, ‘Okay, mom, I’ve got it handled.’”

Stivison had been stationed in South Korea, Somalia and had twice served in Iraq. He was sent to Iraq in February before the unit was transferred to Afghanistan in May.

It was a deployment he didn’t have to accept, his mother said.

“Actually, he had a chance a couple months before they went not to go, she said. “A teaching position opened up and they offered it to him. He thought seriously about it and turned it down because one of the other soldiers just had a brand new baby and he said, you need to be home. These are my guys., I worked with them and I trained them. So he went.”

His mother-in-law urged him to be careful, knowing it wouldn’t do any good.

“When he was deployed I told him, can’t you go to the back of the line?” Leaver recalled. “And he just smiled and said ‘I would never do that.’ We are so proud of him. He is our biggest hero.”

Stivy, as he was known by family and friends, was home on leave in September. While home, “he attended all his boys’ sports events, Leaver recalled. “He was so proud of those boys. They were his life. And he spoiled my daughter like crazy.”

Stivison enjoyed going to movies, singing, fishing and hiking, and watching football. “He was the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers fan you could ask for,” Leaver says. “We would go round and round about the Broncos.”

Army Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr. was killed in action on 10/15/09.