Staff Sgt. Michael Sutter loved competition.
Growing up in south suburban Tinley Park, Sutter began training in the martial art of judo at age 4, mastering it so well that he regularly took home awards in regional and national competitions.
Then, as a high school graduate, Sutter sought to push himself in the Army, said his brother, Steve. After eight years, including four in an explosive disposal unit, Sutter returned to Tinley Park. He then enlisted with the National Guard.
Sutter took on paintball, relishing in the thrill of the sport, yet never content to lose.
Sutter, 28, died Friday in Baquba, Iraq, while defusing a homemade bomb, said a spokeswoman for the Michigan Army National Guard, from which Sutter was one of 22 members of the Grayling-based 745th Ordnance Company bomb disposal unit that had been serving in Iraq since October.
One bomb had been “rendered safe,” Guard spokeswoman Dawn Dancer said. When Sutter approached it, a second improvised bomb exploded, killing him, she said.
No other soldiers were killed or wounded in the early morning incident, Dancer said.
At Andrew High School, Sutter was a solid “B” student, his brother said. He worked at a local Sam’s Club to help with family expenses. When he graduated, Sutter kept that job for a year, then enlisted, he said.
Sutter’s parents, John and Judy Sutter, declined to speak to reporters Monday.
Carried flags for parents: Staff Sgt. Thomas Walkup Jr., a flight engineer in the Air Force’s 20th Special Operations Squadron, carried two American flags in his tactical bag, one for each of his parents.
“I will continue to fly these flags with me through everything I encounter,” he wrote his parents in an e-mail Oct. 30. “And hopefully one day I’ll be able to give them to you personally.”
Walkup, 25, of Millville, N.J., died Nov. 23, along with three other airmen and a soldier in a MH-53 transport helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
Lured by the idea of flying, Walkup joined the Air Force just after graduating from Millville High School in 1996, said his father, Thomas Sr. While stationed in Phoenix, he met Carissa, also a member of the Air Force. The couple married in December 2000.
“They liked the same things. They liked going out in the desert four-wheeling,” his father said. “The country out there is beautiful, but you can’t get there by road.”
In September, father and son spent the last three days together in Pensacola, Fla, before Walkup’s final deployment.
“We hung out. … I enjoyed being with him and the guys he flew with,” his father said. “It never did occur to me he would not come back.”
`He just wanted to fly’: Tech. Sgt. Howard Walters, 33, of Port Huron, Mich., told his parents he would be an astronaut when he grew up. Although he never made it to space, he worked as an Air Force aerial gunner, most recently serving in the 20th Special Operations Squadron. Walters died in the same helicopter crash.
“He just wanted to fly,” said his mother, Patricia Riedel. “So when he did the helicopter thing, he was flying.”
Walters joined the Air Force in 1988 and was deployed to Operation Desert Storm. He also served in South Korea and Italy.
“He had seen the world. He had been all over,” his mother said.
Walters doted on his four daughters, ages 2 to 13, his mother said. He also left behind his wife, Melissa.
“He didn’t like leaving his family, but he knew Melissa would be there to take care of them,” she said.
Riedel finds solace in her son’s death where she can.
“He died loving what he did,” she said.
Always in good spirits: The romance of flying also attracted Tech Sgt. William Kerwood, 37, of Houston, Mo., to the Air Force, said his brother, Ken. He died in the helicopter crash while serving as a flight engineer for the 20th Special Operations Squadron.
“He loved it,” his brother said. “They would have to kick him out. He wasn’t going to get out.”
The fifth of seven children, Kerwood helped take care of his two younger brothers while his father was away at his job as a truck driver, his brother said. He worked odd jobs to earn money–baling hay, cutting wood or repairing lawn mowers.
He joined the Air Force after graduating from high school and served almost 19 years, stationed throughout the world, including South Korea, England, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Australia, his brother said.
Kerwood was part of the U.S. efforts in Iraq earlier this year and returned home for two months. He spent the Labor Day weekend with his family in Missouri, playing golf and talking about his teenage daughter, his brother said.
In dealing with Kerwood’s death, his family is taking the cue from him.
“He was always in good spirits,” his brother said. “It didn’t matter what was going on.”
Known for his sharp wit: Maj. Steven Plumhoff, 33, of Neshanic Station, N.J., never waited for tomorrow. He always did what he could today.
When his son, Gavyn, was born last year, he hopped on a plane soon after to show him off to his family, said his sister, Carola. He refused to postpone a family trip to Germany in August although he was supposed to be deployed to Afghanistan. And if his son was napping when he got home, he’d wake him up to make sure they spent time together, his sister said.
“He lived every day like it should be lived,” his sister said.
Plumhoff, assigned to the 58th Special Operations Squadron, died while piloting the helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan.
Known for his sharp wit, Plumhoff could leave a person speechless before an argument even took place, his sister said.
He joined the Air Force after he graduated from high school in 1988. He wanted to be part of a team, leading him to piloting helicopters, his sister said.
But Plumhoff and his wife, Yvette LaPointe, understood the dangerous nature of his job.
“They knew that this could happen. What he did was dangerous,” his sister said. “And the way he lived makes me feel not regretful. It gives me some solace I guess because he was aware of it and he didn’t put things off.”
