Brendon Steffey (2005 photograph) U.S. Army Specialist Brandon Steffey, 23, of Sault Ste. Marie, was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan Sunday, October 25. His unit was traveling on assignment Sunday morning when a roadside bomb exploded. Spc. Steffey was on his second tour of duty in the Middle East. His first was in Iraq as a gunner in 2007.

He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and was deployed to Afghanistan in May, where he worked at Forward Operating Base Fenty Kennels in the Laghman Province as a combat tracking dog handler. He worked with dogs trained to sniff out improvised explosive devices and components. Dogs have more sensitive smelling senses than humans and can detect explosive compounds more efficiently than their human soldier counterparts, alerting them to danger.

His mother, Rachel Humpf of Soo Township, said he was a lovable person who was easy to get along with. She described him as a big "teddy bear."

"My son was one of the most wonderful people I've ever known," she said. "He was just a great kid."

Spc. Steffey grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and was a 2005 graduate of Brimley High School, where he played varsity baseball during his senior year. He enlisted in the Army in 2006.

His wife, Andrea, and daughter, Abigail, age 1, live in San Antonio near where he was stationed. He is the son of Dennis Steffey of Sault Ste. Marie.

Services for Spc. Steffey are still being arranged, Mrs. Humpf said.

Spc. Steffey is the second soldier from the Eastern Upper Peninsula to die in combat in Afghanistan this month. Sgt. Christopher Griffin, 24, of Kincheloe, was killed in an attack Saturday, October 3.