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Army Staff Sgt. Stephen ‘Tony’ Bertolino, 40; Killed in Ambush of Convoy in Iraq

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Times Staff Writer

The last time the Bertolino family gathered in El Cajon, Calif., was March 31, the day they buried their matriarch, Mary, who died of cancer. On the same day, they said goodbye to her son, Army Staff Sgt. Stephen Anthony Bertolino, before he headed to Iraq.

Last week, Stephen Bertolino’s wife, Susan, their four children and his siblings returned to El Cajon for another somber occasion: to plan his funeral.

Bertolino, 40, was killed in an ambush Nov. 29 when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of American military vehicles in Haditha, Iraq.

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“It’s been a really rough year for my father and the rest of the family,” said his brother Mark, 37, a Navy chief petty officer stationed in Norfolk, Va. “Even though everybody thought it could happen, it’s kind of shocking when it does.”

Stephen Bertolino, who was assigned to the Aviation Intermediate Maintenance Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Carson, Colo., is one of the latest California soldiers killed in Iraq.

As of Friday, 441 American service men and women had been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the war, 303 of them since major fighting ended May 1.

Bertolino, called Tony by his family and friends, grew up in a military family. His father, Joseph Bertolino Sr., 73, joined the Army after high school in Alabama and served in the wars in Korea and Vietnam.

During more than 20 years in the military, the elder Bertolino and his wife moved their family to various bases around the country.

Their two eldest children -- Yvonne, 47, and Joe, 46 -- were born in Alabama. Michelle, 44, and Michael, 43, were born in Alaska.

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Tony and Mark were born while their father was stationed at Ft. Benning, Ga. They were toddlers when their father was deployed to Vietnam.

After retiring from the military in 1974, the elder Bertolino moved his family to El Cajon, where Tony graduated from Granite Hills High School in 1982.

He met his wife, Susan Roberts of Escondido, while their families were both camping in Julian. Bertolino, whose family is Catholic, converted to Susan’s religion so the couple could be married in 1987 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Bertolino joined the Marine Corps briefly and then switched to the Army. He was an Army recruiter based in Santee for the last three years until he was transferred in March to Ft. Carson.

The 6-foot-6 man, who taught children’s classes at church, frequently showed his soft heart to strangers and relatives, his family said.

“He was late for a lot things he should have been on time for because he had stopped to help somebody,” said his brother Joe.

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“As a father, he loved his kids. He is a big kid himself. He was always playing with the kids, his nieces and nephews.”

After his mother died, Bertolino moved his wife and children -- Stephen Anthony Jr., 13; Daniel, 12; Karina, 7; and Jason, 6 -- to his new assignment at Ft. Carson. He was deployed to Iraq days later.

In an e-mail to his family, he counted his unit’s blessings as American casualties mounted.

“He said you never know when something was going to happen,” his brother Joe said. “He felt pretty lucky because they were one of the only troops out there on maneuvers and had come back with no casualties.”

Services for Bertolino will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1917 E. Washington Ave., Escondido.

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