Airman's
Death
is Campaign's First
Air
Force Sergeant
Killed in Heavy Equipment Accident
SOLON,
Maine (Oct.
12) - Evander Andrews left the family farm to join the Air Force and
know
more of the world than this speck of a town. Today, his family and town
know more of the world too - almost more than they can bear.
Master
Sgt. Andrews,
assigned to the 366 Civil Engineer Squadron, reportedly became the
first
American soldier to die in the campaign against terrorists. He was
killed
Wednesday in a forklift accident while building an air strip in
Aludeid,
somewhere in Qatar, a peninsula in the Persian Gulf.
''We're
bitter that
a young man like this was taken,'' said his aunt, Dassie Jackson. ''At
36, he's got his whole life ahead of him.''
Three
Air Force officers
and a deputy sheriff strode to the door of the family home before dawn
Thursday to stir his parents, Odber and Mary. They were handed an
official
notice.
''It's
always a tragedy
when anyone dies away from home,'' said Capt. Kelley Thibodeau, a
spokeswoman
for Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, where Andrews had been
assigned.
Andrews
came of age
in this central Maine town of about 1,000, a bucolic land of hills and
forests now in its seasonal russet-and-gold, punctuated this fall by
red-white-and-blue.
At its center, it holds little more than a country store, tack shop,
old
hotel, gas station and cemetery.
Andrews'
family still
raises cattle at the farm where he grew up, on the edge of the woods.
He
has three sisters but became close to his dad, who also worked as a
mechanic
on trucks and other big equipment. Together, they fixed engines. Later,
they rode motorcycles.
Andrews,
a strongly
built boy on the quiet side, seemed as though he might become a farmer.
But he signed up for the Air Force soon after graduating from high
school.
''He just wanted to see the world, see something different,'' says his
aunt. Jobs were scarce locally anyway.
He
met his wife,
Judy, in 1990 in Missouri. She was enlisted in the Army; he, in the Air
Force. She left the service, married Andrews, and together they headed
for the Idaho air base. Their four children span ages 2 to 9.
''I
... accept the
death of my husband in defense of our nation. He was a proud,
professional
career airman,'' his wife said in a statement released by family pastor
Thomas Westall.
In
the Air Force,
Andrews operated bulldozers and the like. He felt at home around heavy
equipment. He taught others, just as his father had once taught him.
His
mother, a retired
nurse, had felt uneasy since he shipped abroad a couple weeks ago. She
and her husband are ''devastated,'' said the aunt, but finding solace
in
their Baptist faith.
In a
town restaurant
inside the country store, several people from Solon and a nearby town
were
comforting themselves over coffee and roast beef Thursday evening.
''We're
living our
lives normally. That's what the president asked us to do. But when a
boy
gets killed .... '' Gloria Padham's voice trailed off.
Dennis
Thompson,
a truck driver who used to work with Andrews' father, agrees it is a
horror.
But then he starts again. ''This is an awful way to put it, but if
that's
what it takes to straighten out this whole thing, that's what it
takes.''
Even
Andrews' uncle,
Alfred Jackson, said his support for military action isn't wavering.
''This
country has got to protect itself,'' he said, but almost in a whisper.
His
wife's glare
had softened to tears. She agreed, then qualified: ''reluctantly.''
Andrews'
body was
to be shipped to Germany, then to a military mortuary in Dover, Del.
His
pastor said he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, a place
of
honor far from home.
By
JEFF DONN
The
Associated Press
The
Angels Will
Carry You Through
When
your life becomes
a battle and you struggle to make sense
barely
surviving
one day to the next wondering where is your defense
Though
you can't
see them there while you do what you must do
there is
someone
who's on your side the Angels will carry you through
When
your hearts
are heavy with burdens you feel that you can't bare
when you
don't feel
the gentle touch of your Angels standing there
You try
to meet
the challenges that you face when the day is new
you may
feel like
you're all alone but the Angels will carry you through
When
at last you
slowly begin to heal and the days don't seem long
and
you embrace
each day and night with the courage to be strong
you know
you'll
meet again some day for God promised this is true
the
weight
is gently lifting and the Angels are carrying you through
Author:
Sharon Schafer
October
12, 2001
Written
for the
family of
Master
Sgt. Evander
E.Andrews
May God
bless and
keep his Angels
watching
over you
all.
Prayer
To
Saint Peter
Let them
in Peter
For they
are very
tried
Give
them couches
where the Angels sleep
And
light those
fires
Let them
wake whole
again
To brand
new dawns
Fired by
the sun
Not
war-times bloody
guns
May
their peace
be deep
Remember
where the
broken bodies lie
God
knows how young
they were
To have
to die
Well God
knows how
young they were
To have
to die
Give
them things
they like
Let them
make some
noise
Give
dance hall
bands not golden harps
To these
our boys
Let them
love Peter
For
they've have
no time
They
should have
bird songs and trees
And
hills to climb
The
taste of Summer
and a
ripened Pear
and
girls sweet
as meadow wind
and
flowing hair
and tell
them how
they are missed
aut say
not to fear
it's
gonna be all
right
with us
down here
Let
them in Peter
oh no
they are very
tried
give
them couches
where the angles sleep
and
light those
fires
let them
wake whole
again
to brand
new dawns
fired by
the sun
not
war-times bloody
guns
may
their peace
be deep
remember
where the
broken bodies lie
God
knows how young
they were
to have
to die
tell
them how they
are missed
but say
not to fear
it's
gonna be all
right
with us
down here
This
song is based
on a poem written by Elma Dean
Originally
published
by Contrails a yearbook of the
100th
Bomb Group
Lyrics
and Music
by John Gorka
Sung by:
Edwin McCain
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Page
created: September 12, 2001
Last
updated: November 23, 2011
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