South Florida soldier killed in Afghanistan

DEERFIELD BEACH, FL -  A Deerfield Beach man is among four soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan last week when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province, the Department of Defense announced today.

Spc. Daniel Courtney Lawson, 33, was assigned to the 569th Mobility Augmentation Company, 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colo. Also killed in the Oct. 15 attack were: Staff Sgt. Glen H. Stivison Jr., 34, of Blairsville, Pa.; Spc. Jesus O. Flores, Jr., 28, of La Mirada, Calif.; and Pfc. Brandon M. Styer, 19, of Lancaster, Pa.

Fort Carson spokesman Devin Fisher said Lawson joined the Army in January 2008 and was deployed to Iraq on Feb. 15, 2009. From there, he was sent to Afghanistan in May.

Lawson earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Campaign Star, and the Iraq Campaign Medal and Campaign Star.

His mother, Carolyn Lawson, said joining the Army was partly a financial decision for Lawson, who was born and raised in Deerfield Beach and graduated from Deerfield Beach High School in 1994.

"He was so full of life," his mother said. "Outgoing. Helpful. Kind. Considerate. A fun-loving, big kid."

Married since 1998, Lawson and his wife, Latoria, have three children. His oldest daughter, Kiara, is 10. Kourtney, also a girl, is 8. And their youngest child, a 5-year-old boy, is named Kevon.

Lawson earned an associate's degree in computer programming from ITT Technical Career Institute and worked as a teacher's assistant in the Broward County school system. But he joined the military for a more stable financial future for his family, she said.

"Each day, I'm accepting it a little bit more," Carolyn Lawson said of losing her son. "My faith in God is that He knows what is best. That's where my strength comes from."

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Lawson was the first serviceman from Broward to be killed in action this year, and the fourth from South Florida. The others from South Florida are:

Maged M. Hussein, 43, of Wellington, an Army civilian employee killed on May 25 in Afghanistan;

Cpl. Christian A. Guzman Rivera, 21, of Homestead, killed Aug. 6 in Afghanistan;

Edward B. Smith, 30, of Homestead, killed Sept. 24 in Afghanistan.