Location: 3375
Date: 5/8/2007
Rank: Sergeant
Branch: U.S. Army
Operation: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Blake Christopher Stephens was born in Pocatello, Idaho on September 28, 1981 the youngest of five children and son to Trent and Kathleen Stephens. He was a very charismatic and handsome young man with a beautiful smile and green eyes. Blake was born with a love and respect for those who served inthe military. As we attended the forth of July parades, starting out very young, he would salute the flag in great respect and of course wear his military fatigues. He was very happy and always loved life and packed a lot of experiences and stories to tell of the things he did in his short 25 years.
While a junior in high school he joined the National Guard and went to Ft. Sill in the summer for Boot Camp and was trained as a Forward Observer. After 9/11, he was very concerned for his country’s welfare. He was activated in the National Guard serving as a guard at the Hill Air Force Base. In 2003 he met and married the love of his life, Erin Dructor. After serving six years in the National Guard he joined the Active Army out of Ft. Benning, Ga. His assignment was to be the Colonel’s body guard and he loved flying in the helicopter over Bagdad, over-seeing getting the Colonel where he needed to be as they visited with Iraqi generals. After attending to some of his men getting killed in an IED attack, he made this last entry into his journal on April 29, 2007, “I actually think to die serving your country is as honorable a way to die as a man can.” It was on the road through Salmon Pak in the morning on May 8, 2007 that his front Humvee was hit by an IED which killed him and his driver, Kyle Little.