Detroit Marine dies in Afghanistan

DETROIT (AP) - A 23-year-old Marine from Detroit has been killed in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department announced Monday that Pfc. Steven P. Stevens II died Friday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province.

Stevens went to Afghanistan on March 21. Family members say that's about a week before his son was born.

Stevens' 85-year-old grandmother, Dorothy Atkins, tells the Detroit Free Press she's "sorry that he never got a chance to see his son."

His uncle, Dwight Atkins, says Stevens attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit and attended Florida A&M University on a swimming scholarship. Dwight Atkins tells WWJ-AM his nephew "was such a joy to be around."

Stevens was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

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Members of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties who died in 2012 supporting military operations in Afghanistan:

-- Marine Pfc. Steven P. Stevens II, 23, of Detroit died June 22 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province. He was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

-- Army Sgt. Joseph Lilly, 25, of Flint died June 14 from injuries he sustained June 12 when he was hit by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan. He was a combat engineer serving with the 18th Engineer Company from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

-- Army Spc. Vilmar Galarza Hernandez, 21, of Salinas, Calif., died May 26 in in Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. His wife is from Muskegon, Mich. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

-- Army Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark, 43, a former resident of Spencerport, N.Y, and Addison, Mich., died May 1 in Tarin Kowt. He was a nurse assigned to A Company, Troop Command at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. His wife was in Texas chatting with him via Skype when he collapsed.

-- Air Force Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City was killed Jan. 5 along with two other airmen when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Helmand province. He was part of the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.