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Some of the U.S. troops killed in the war in Iraq:

Air Force Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather, 29, Clio, Mich.

Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather was a quiet professional, a special forces combat controller who enjoyed his job and did it well, colleagues said.

Sather liked to be the "do" man, said Staff Sgt. Michael Bain. "He'd basically go out, take care of matters. Even if he wasn't asked to do it, he would just go out and do it anyway, just to make sure things got done."

The 29-year-old from Clio, Mich., was married and often talked about his plans to build a home, Bain said. His other love, Bain said, was riding and working on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Sather was serving with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., when he was killed in combat April 8 in Iraq.

Special forces combat controllers like Sather are called on to set up makeshift runways almost anywhere in the world and are trained in parachuting, scuba diving and air traffic control.

It's a demanding job, but Sather was "very relaxed, always at ease," Bain said.

Army Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever, 36, Pendleton, Ore.

Staff Sgt. Robert Anthony Stever was protective of his family and took time for those he cared about, his relatives said.

"He was always smiling," said his grandfather Ray Stever. "He was friendly and willing to help his fellow man. I don't think he had hardly any enemies."

The 36-year-old tank mechanic was with the 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., and his unit had taken NBC reporter David Bloom along as it traveled through the Iraqi desert.

"We live for those broadcasts," his wife, Cyndi Stever, said. If she wasn't home, she said, she would videotape them just to know he was OK.

Stever, known to his family and friends as Tony, had a 10-year-old daughter and had been a volunteer firefighter with the Pendleton, Ore., Fire Department, following in the footsteps of his father.

He left Pendleton in 1993 but still considered it his home, his wife said.

In his 13 years in the Army, she said, he completed two tours in Bosnia and one in Macedonia, but the war in Iraq was his first time in combat. He was killed by enemy fire April 8.

About a week before he died, Stever used Bloom's phone to leave a message on his grandparents' answering machine, said his grandmother, Betty Stever. "He said everything was OK and he loved us," she said.

Bloom himself died April 6 from an apparent blood clot.

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