60-year-old Army soldier is oldest killed in Iraq

updated 7:26 p.m. ET May 14, 2009

PHOENIX - A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday.

An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.

His brother said Hutchison decided to re-enlist after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of his wife.

Richard Hutchison said that his older brother wanted to re-enlist immediately after 9/11 but that his wife was against it. He signed up again in July 2007 after she died, according to his brother and the Army.

"He was very devoted to the service and to his country," Richard Hutchison said. "I didn't want him to do it, but he had a mind of his own and that's what he wanted to do."

The Pentagon said Steven 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.

Hutchison was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kan.

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