Sgt. Bryan Joseph Tutten, 33, of St.
Augustine, died Christmas Day 2007 in Tikrit, Iraq,
after an I.E.D. (Improvised Explosive Device) detonated
near his position during combat operations. He is
the first St. Johns County native to die in a
war-related incident in Iraq.
He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry
Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne
Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Tutten was a rifleman and squad leader of an
infantry company.
Tutten enlisted in the Army in June of 2002. His
second tour in Iraq began in November 2006, and he
was due home within two months when he was killed.
He was supposed to serve in Iraq for 4 months.
That duty stretched to 12 months and then extended
to 15.
Tutten was born in St. Augustine,
attended St. Joseph Academy, graduated from St.
Augustine High School and attended St. Johns River
Community College. He was a member of Holy Trinity
Greek Orthodox Church of St. Augustine.
Bryan
is survived by wife C.P. (Constandina Peterson) Tutten, and
two children, Catherine and Gareth, and his mother
Sylvia.
Heroism runs in the family.
Bryan was the son of the late St. Augustine
guitarist and folk singer Tom Tutten. The elder
Tutten was 50 years old when he died on April 8,
2001. He drowned while coming to the aid of children
who had lost an inflatable raft on Vilano Beach. He
reached the raft, according to reports at the time,
but then slipped beneath the surface. |
