Sgt. Bryan Joseph Tutten, 33, of St. Augustine, died Christmas Day 2007 in Tikrit, Iraq, after an I.E.D. (Improvised Explosive Device) detonated near his position during combat operations. He is the first St. Johns County native to die in a war-related incident in Iraq.
            
 He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry    Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne   Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. Tutten was a rifleman and squad leader of an infantry company.
 

 Tutten enlisted in the Army in June of 2002. His second tour in Iraq began in November 2006, and he was due home within two months when he was killed. He was supposed to serve in Iraq for 4 months. That duty stretched to 12 months and then extended  to 15.
 

  Tutten was born in St. Augustine, attended St. Joseph Academy, graduated from St. Augustine High School and attended St. Johns River Community College. He was a member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of St. Augustine.
 

  Bryan is survived by wife C.P. (Constandina Peterson) Tutten, and  two children, Catherine and Gareth, and his mother Sylvia.
                                                          

    Heroism runs in the family. Bryan was the son of the late St. Augustine guitarist and folk singer Tom Tutten. The elder Tutten was 50 years old when he died on April 8, 2001. He drowned while coming to the aid of children who had lost an inflatable raft on Vilano Beach. He  reached the raft, according to reports at the time, but then slipped beneath the surface.