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Sgt Andy A. Stevens, 29, of Tomah, was killed
in Fallujah, the Department of Defense said in a statement Saturday. Stevens was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine
Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Twentynine
Palms, Calif. Stevens, who joined the Marines in June 1995 and was serving as a
scout sniper, deployed to Iraq with his unit in July, the Marine Corps said.
Marine Corps Sniper, Sgt Andy A.
Stevens, from Tomah, is remembered as someone who had a knack for seeking
excitement. He has become the 51st Wisconsin service member to die in the
war.
Sgt. Andy A. Stevens was killed 01 December 2005 in an explosion near Fallujah,
along with nine other U.S. troops on foot patrol. Eleven other Marines were
injured. It was the deadliest attack against American troops in four months.
A family member, reached at the home of Stevens' father, Allen Stevens, in Tomah
on Saturday declined to comment.
Maj. George Williams, a Marine Corps instructor in Madison acting as family
spokesman, said Saturday that Stevens' family was grieving and preferred not to
make any comment.
Stevens' family "is extremely proud of him and his service to the Marine Corps
and to this nation," his family said in a statement released Saturday.
Stevens, 29, joined the Marines in 1995, after graduating from Tomah High
School.
Family friends recalled Stevens as a headstrong but hardworking, earnest
student. He was a pole vaulter on his high school track team, a choice likely
driven by his desire for excitement, said Jeff McGinnis, one of Stevens'
coaches.
"Andy was kind of his own person," McGinnis said. Stevens also participated in
football, basketball and concert choir in high school, according to the 1995
Tomah school yearbook.
McGinnis remembered Stevens once shaved a bald strip on his head, "a reverse
Mohawk, just to be different. He had his own way of doing things."
Mary Risch, an English teacher at Tomah High School, taught Stevens for a year
at the school.
"He was very energetic. He liked to have a lot of fun. He had a lot of friends,"
Risch said.
Mary Justinger, also a family friend and one of his middle school teachers, said
Stevens was "the kind of kid who always gave you 100 percent, no matter what he
did." She called him a "normal, great all-American kid" and "the kind of kid who
will do whatever you ask."
Stevens was assigned to a Regimental Combat Team that was attacked at a mill in
a village just outside Fallujah in the al Anbar province, according to an
eyewitness account reported by The Associated Press.
Stevens was helping secure the region before the Dec. 15 Iraqi elections.
Stevens died of injuries from a roadside bomb made of four large artillery
shells, according to authorities. His group also was hit with gunfire after the
bomb blast.
He was a "scout sniper," assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st
Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Twentynine Palms,
Calif., according to the Marine Corps. In Iraq, Stevens' unit was attached to a
combat team based in Camp Lejeune, N.C. Stevens had been with his unit in Iraq
since July.
Stevens had been awarded numerous military honors, including the War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat
Action Ribbon, two Marine Corps Good Conduct Medals, the Meritorious Unit
Commendation, the Navy Unit Commendation, the Korean Defense Service Medal, two
National Defense Service Medals and five Sea Service Deployment Ribbons,
according to a statement released by the Marine Corps.
"Words will never describe accurately the honor, courage and commitment of these
fallen Marines and Sailors," Col. William Crowe, of the 7th Marine Regiment,
said in a statement. "These men did not give their lives in vain, and we will
not soon forget our fellow brothers."
Stevens is survived by his father; a sister, Amy, of Tomah; and his mother, Kaye
Olson, of Maryland Heights, Mo. |