Staff Sgt. Kennith Mayne loved the military and his service in Iraq, believing he was protecting Americans’ freedom and giving the Iraqi people a chance at a better life.
Early Thursday, Mayne died doing what he loved when a roadside bomb hit his Humvee while on patrol outside Baghdad.
“He was so proud to be a soldier. He so loved his country, he really did, and he loved his men,” said his mother, Michelle Benavidez of Arvada. “He so believed in what he was doing.”
Mayne, 29, went from a troubled teen to a man after he enlisted at age 18, Benavidez said.
“The Army gave him confidence, made him a leader. He was decorated, he was proud of himself, and he loved his family, and we were so proud of him,” she said.
Mayne was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas. But Benavidez said his real love was being with the 101st Airborne during his first deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
“He loved being a Screaming Eagle,” she said.
Mayne, a 1997 Arvada West High School graduate, had spent 11 years at various bases in the South, and transferred to the 4th Infantry Division — which is based in Colorado Springs — as a way to get back to Colorado.
“He loved to ski, fish, hike, camp. He loved the mountains,” Benavidez said.
Despite being a tough soldier, Mayne learned his mother’s fear of spiders. In Iraq, “these crazy camel spiders” spooked him, so he told his mother, “I just shoot them.”
Mayne’s extended family gathered at Benavidez’s home to remember him as a hero.
“He felt he was making a difference,” Benavidez said. “He was great person. We were just so proud of him.”
