Some things Army Sgt. Steven M. Packer never forgot. He never forgot to tell his fiancee that he loved her more than anything on Earth, "including outer space," and he never forgot to call home on Mother's Day.
So when the call didn't come May 13, his mother, Robin Davidson, became nervous.
The news out of Iraq heightened her anxiety: Three U.S. soldiers were missing after a deadly ambush and were assumed to have been abducted. Her son was in the same area, known as the "triangle of death," southwest of Baghdad.
"I thought he was captured," she said. "I kind of breathed a sigh of relief when they announced the unit wasn't his."
The relief didn't last long. Her son couldn't call because he was on a mission to find those missing soldiers.
On May 17, while Packer was leading a foot patrol near Rushdi Mullah, a buried improvised explosive device went off, killing the 23-year-old, according to the Defense Department. The body of one of the missing soldiers, Army Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, was recovered from a canal May 23.
Packer, from Clovis, Calif., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, N.Y.
His death came on his third tour in Iraq. Packer had done his four years in the Army but was given a "stop-loss" order that allows the military to extend deployments in times of war.
"When he came back from the first tour, he told me that we take for granted what we have here," his mother said.
On his second tour, he had a number of close calls.
"His third time he knew the reality of it. He had a bad feeling about it. I felt he thought something was going to happen," his mother said. "When I saw him at the airport, he had a look and he was scared to death."
As a boy, Packer seemed destined for the military life. He idolized his grandfather, a career Marine, and he would draw detailed scenes of men in combat. After the Sept. 11 attacks, there was no doubt what he would do. After graduating from Clovis High School in 2002, he enlisted.
"He did what he believed in," his mother said. "At the time, I thought joining the Army would be a good idea. It would build character and help turn him into a man. I grew up in a military family."
But Packer's time in Iraq wore on him. When he returned home, he sidestepped questions about the war, preferring to change the subject.
