Thornton, Steven William

Location: 1558

Date: 4/18/2005

Rank: Major

Branch: U.S. Army

Operation: Operation Iraqi Freedom

A father of three and grandfather of five, Steven Thornton had been an Army chaplain for more than 20 years. “He loved being a chaplain. He loved counseling soldiers,” said his wife, Brenda.Thornton, 46, a native of Eugene, Ore., died April 18, 2005 after collapsing during a training run at Camp Arifjan. Thornton and his wife grew up in Springfield, Ore., and met at the Church of the Nazarene there in 1981.

They were married that November. Thornton held a bachelor’s degree in religious theology from Mid-America Nazarene College in Olathe, Kan., and a master of divinity degree in religious theology from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. His military career took his family to many states, including Washington,

Idaho, Colorado, Kansas and Hawaii. He was stationed at Fort Monmouth and previously served a year each in Iraq and South Korea. “He was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father,” Brenda Thornton said. “He was really proud of his kids.”

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