Conway soldier killed in Iraq remembered

Sgt. Michael R Sturdivant, who was called to duty in Iraq in November 2006, died at age 20 while on a convoy operation in Kirkuk. He was killed when a vehicle he was riding in overturned in a noncombat-related accident. He was scheduled to return home in February.

Before being called to duty in Iraq as part of the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion, Sturdivant was enrolled in the University of Central Arkansas and living in Conway. He had been active in the Boy Scouts of America from a young age, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and remaining active in the scouts as an assistant scout master for North Little Rock's Troop 427 and member of the Order of the Arrow until the time of his deployment.

The eldest of six children, Sturdivant "was always helping out at home and that carried over into other parts of his life," friend Rebecca Tipton said.

"He was outstanding," Tipton said. "I knew him through the boy scouts. He was in the scouts with my brother (Jason Tipton), and from what I saw of him each week at scout meetings and when we went camping he was sweet, he was nice, always aiming to please."

Tipton's father, Paul Tipton, served as Sturdivant's scout master when he crossed over from the cub scouts to boy scouts. Paul Tipton said Sturdivant and his siblings were homeschooled, and that the scouts offered a much-needed source of social interaction.

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"He was homeschooled and that made him a little bit different at first, but through the scouts that all changed," Paul Tipton said. "He was a hard worker in the scouts trying to get his badges."

Friend and fellow scout Johnathan Boswell, a student at Hendrix College, said Sturdivant was a good person "in the sense that he was a man of morals."

"We fell out of touch," Boswell said, "but I'm sure that he probably took that with him when he went to join the military."

Cindy Lang was Sturdivant's den master when he was a Cub Scout and assistant scout master through the time Sturdivant became an Eagle Scout. He was dedicated to the scouts, Lang said, and eager to pass on his knowledge to younger scouts as an assistant scout master.

"Michael was proficient or expert at all aspects of scouting," she said. "Whatever he wanted to do he made sure he learned it thoroughly."

In a photo submitted by Lang, Sturdivant is pictured on the night he earned the rank of Eagle Scout with a ponytail just visible over his shoulder.

"He let his hair grow real long," she said. "Everybody would give him grief over it. They were like, 'oh my gosh, what is all that hair about,' but he had a plan. He always had a plan. He got it cut off and sent it to Locks of Love so it could be used to make wigs. He just told everybody 'It's what I can do.'"

Lang said she first learned of Sturdivant's plan for a military career when he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.

"He reflected on it," she said, "and looking toward his military obligations and any future family he might have, he felt it might not be best to be away for such long periods, like he would have been in the Navy. He felt sure wherever he might be posted in the Army he could take a family. He put a lot of thought into it. He put a lot of thought into just about everything."

Sturdivant joined the U.S. Army Reserve on March 29, 2005, and was trained to be a civil affairs specialist, enlisting into the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) for a six-year tour.

"My understanding of why he chose to do that," Lang said, "is because they would go into communities and help rebuild them; do whatever the community needed to get back on its feet and get established again. Like if their schools were destroyed or their water system, (Sturdivant) would be a part of rebuilding it all.

"He would have been home in February, then turned 21 in March. He was looking forward to getting back in school in UCA in the summer or in the fall. He had taken some classes at Pulaski Tech and at UCA and he thoroughly enjoyed that."

Lang said she only heard from Sturdivant sporadically after he was deployed to Iraq. He sent her an e-mail in December explaining that he had "kind of faded off to keep from getting homesick." It would be the last she would hear from him.

"Now I am contacting all my friends and loved ones to tell them I will be home soon," the e-mail reads. "I should be home next February sometime! YAY ME! I am getting excited. I would love to stop by your store and see you, and share all sorts of pictures, and stories, and anything else you have time for. And you can update me on how you are doing. As soon as I get back. Sound good?"

Lang said Sturdivant wasn't the first of her scouts to serve in Iraq.

"But he is the first not to come home," she said.

Commenting on Sturdivant's rapid promotion to the rank of Sergeant, U.S. Army public affairs specialist Tina Beller said given his background in the scouts and appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, "fast tracking" wasn't a surprise.

"If you know anything about a Naval Academy appointment you will then understand," Beller said. "The program is extremely aggressive and competitive. Only the strongest mentally and physically can endure. His acceptance is a testament to his potential."

Sturdivant's military awards included the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" device, NCO Professional Development Ribbon and the Army Service Ribbon. He was the 3,931th U.S. serviceman to die in Iraq.

He became a Catholic at North Little Rock's Immaculate Conception Catholic Church shortly before his deployment. A facebook.com group dedicated to Sturdivant's memory had 101 members as of presstime.

Lang said Sturdivant's parents, Steve and Cheryl Sturdivant, have asked that the media respect their privacy during their time of grief. The family resides in Bonner, Mont.