Stephen P. Saxton

Friday, May 06 2005 @ 08:10 AM EDT

Gazzett.com -- A Fort Carson soldier died when a bomb detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad, the Army reported Thursday.

The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment’s Sgt. Stephen P. Saxton, 24, of Temecula, Calif., died Tuesday while patrolling a convoy route. It is the fourth regiment fatality since the unit deployed in March.

Saxton, a father of three, was eight days from his 25th birthday. He was serving in his second yearlong tour in Iraq.

His mother, Deborah Saxton, said that in a recent phone call Saxton expressed joy over a plan to come to Colorado this month to see his child Sierra Rose, born three weeks ago at Fort Carson.

“Anything he decided to do, he always gave it his best,” she said from her California home.

Saxton’s wife, Maegen, and children, Joseph Thomas, 2, and Katelynn Elizabeth, 4, live in Colorado Springs. Funeral arrangements were pending.

Deborah Saxton said he lifted spirits of those around him. “He just always looked for the bright side of things.”

Members of his regiment spent Wednesday trying to root out insurgents in Baghdad’s southern suburbs, a spokesman said by phone from unit headquarters near Baghdad International Airport.

U.S. forces have faced growing guerrilla activity, including a series of bombings. Saxton is the fourth Fort Carson soldier killed in the offensive.

Fort Carson has lost 106 soldiers in the war.

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