The first time U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Michael Deason saw his 1-year-old daughter Kayler was on Christmas. War and hope separated the father and daughter while Deason was serving his country in Iraq.

Just six days before Deason was to return to his family in Farmington, a roadside bomb in Iraq ripped the opportunity for this young man and his wife to share precious memories many people take for granted.

Deason will never get to see his child's first step, or hear those “good-night, I love you daddy.” He will never have those times when his children look up at him with those big eyes of unconditional love.

The roadside bomb that exploded Wednesday near the convoy Deason was traveling in, killed him.

“I hate this,” Deason's wife, Tiffany said. “My children have been cheated out of getting to know their father. They are too young right now to understand what has happened, but their father was such a good person and died a hero. He only got to see our daughter for two weeks out of her life. He was just six days from coming home.”

Michael and Tiffany married on Nov. 5, 2003 and have a 2-year-old son named Jayden and their daughter Kayler was born on Nov. 15, 2005.

“He (Michael) missed the births of both of our children because he was over in Iraq,” Tiffany said. “He was actually finishing up his second tour in Iraq. He felt strongly about what he was doing over there. He was awarded a bronze star and was so proud of it.”

Tiffany described her husband as a really good father and someone that everyone in the military looked up to.

“He was stationed out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky,” Tiffany said. “I would always get compliments as to how good of a soldier he was. He always made it a point to make everyone laugh and smile. Michael and I knew each other our entire lives. We had made plans to go and pick him up on Thursday. He wanted to see the kids so badly. Now everything has changed.”

Michael's father, David Deason first learned the tragic news of his son's death on Thursday.

“My boss came up to me at the Glass Factory and said that I needed to go home,” David said. “He said he would take me and that there was going to be some military people waiting for me at my house. When I got there, they explained that Michael had been killed. They said he was in a convoy that got hit by a roadside bomb. They did not tell me what time it happened or what part of Iraq it happened in.”

David said he asked if Michael was the only person that was killed.

“They said all they knew was that Michael had been killed,” David said. “They told me it could be 4 to 10 days before he is brought home. He will be flown to Delaware and from there will be brought to St. Louis.”

In a letter Michael sent to David for Father's Day he said, “You can see all kinds of kids playing around here. It feels good knowing the people are free because of us.”

Michael was featured in the military publication Stars and Stripes in January. He joined the U.S. Army in April of 2000 and was an Army Ranger.

Michael graduated from North County High School in 1996 where he played basketball for the Raiders.

North County High School Coach Bill Martin remembers Michael as happy and outgoing and a “fine, young man.”

He said he just remembers him in middle school as being small and not very tall, but that changed in high school.

“We really enjoyed him over here,” Martin said.

He said it is a “terrible tragedy” and everybody's hearts at North County go out to the family.

Deason was voted most likely to be seen on MTV in high school, according to family members. His family recalls that he was the only person who was able to be on the Mineral Area College basketball team as a walk-on after not even playing basketball during his senior year in high school.

“He loved his family,” Tiffany said. “He always wanted to make his parents proud. He was a big momma's boy. His younger cousins all looked up to him. He had said many times that all he wanted was to have a family. All he ever wanted to do was make sure he could provide for us.”

Michael is survived by his wife Tiffany Deason and their two children Jayden and Kayler; his father David Deason and his step-mother Cindy Deason; his mother Terry Galloway; his sisters Ashley Deason and Linda (Willis) Abbot; and his brother Ryan Galloway.

When Michael was stationed in Kentucky, the couple lived on the base. However, when Michael went overseas Tiffany came back to Farmington where she currently resides. Tiffany said funeral arrangements are pending.

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