[Rhodes22-list] Politics: A Few Good Men/Boys - War Sucks!

Wed Sep 22 19:41:32 EDT 2004

Here's a couple of stories about a local Memphis kid
who died this week in Iraq.  This is our third or
fourth.  Make it a political issue if you must - the
constitution protects your right to do so.   My only
purpose is to honor an American who gave "the last
full measure".  Brad

Andy Stern

A quick but full life
Fallen Marine radiated zest

By Clay Bailey
Contact
September 18, 2004

Friday was a time to remember for the Stern family of
Germantown. 

A time to read letters from their son, Andy. A time to
look at pictures of him dressed in his Marine uniform,
sitting in his tank or setting out across the country.
A time to talk about his enthusiasm for everything
from hiking and rowing crew to the girlfriends he had
around the country. 

It was also a day to lean on the shoulders of family
and friends visiting or calling their home near
Houston Middle School to express condolences. 

The first two people to visit were a pair of Marines
in their dress uniforms Thursday afternoon. When
Eileen and Rich Stern saw them walking through their
neighborhood as the Sterns returned from temple for
Rosh Hashanah, they knew their 24-year-old son was
dead. 

"He was smart, funny and handsome," Rich Stern said of
his son. "The mother of one of his friends said he had
a really mischievous smile." 

Marine First Lt. Andrew K. Stern, who tentatively was
one month away from leaving the war in Iraq, was
killed in battle Thursday. The family didn't have many
details Friday, "only bits and pieces," supplied by
the Marines. Wire service reports out of Iraq state
that three members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary
Force, to which Lt. Stern was assigned, were killed by
hostile fire in separate incidents in the west ern
Anbar province while conducting security operations,
the military said. One Marine died at the scene and
the two others died later of their wounds. 

A remembrance service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday
at Temple Israel. Lt. Stern will be buried at
Arlington National Cemetery, his father said. 

He was deployed in April, and to the best of the
family's knowledge, was near Fallujah. He mentioned
the area in letters and showed the region in
disposable cameras he sent home for the family. 

His mother, Eileen, a Spanish teacher at Houston High,
sat curled in a recliner Friday morning, a brown plaid
blanket around her, tissues next to her side. The
framed picture of her son clutched to her chest. 

Other family members and friends - some local, some
from Chicago - told stories about the son who
challenged the Sterns as a child, matured into a
leader and stood out in a crowd. "He walked into the
room and the whole room filled up," Rich said. "Some
people look for attention. He didn't look for it. It
came to him." 

His life started by putting his mother through 48
hours of labor and his parents through teen years of
challenge to an officer's role in the military. 

"He was rambunctious from the get-go," Rich Stern
said, "But he became as good a son as there could be.
He became my best friend." 

For as long as it took him to arrive, his life was
fast-paced the rest of the way. Always in a rush;
under a schedule. Getting the most out of life. Roust
ing his brothers - Justin, 22, and the twins, Kyle and
Zach, 18 - out of bed early. 

"When he called he would say: 'This is going to be
quick because I've got to go,' " Justin said. 

He grew up in Arlington Heights, near Chicago, and
while his three brothers graduated from Houston High,
Lt. Stern never attended school in Shelby County.
After graduating from Culver Military Academy in
Indiana, he attended the University of Tennessee. He
was captain of the collegiate rowing crew, an officer
of the Inter-Fraternity Council and a member of Beta
Theta Pi fraternity. He was enthusiastic enough about
his crew teams to have a crossed oars tattoo on his
back - one in the colors of Culver Military Institute,
the other in the University of Tennessee colors. His
other tattoo was his other passion - a Marine emblem
on his right shoulder. 

"He always wanted to be a Marine," said Lisa Parker,
whose son, Jeff, roomed with Lt. Stern at Tennessee
and became one of his best friends. "He was just an
awesome kid. I was honored to know him. It's like
losing one of my own." 

He learned to like country music and could drawl out a
"y'all" that was contrary to his Chicago-area
upbringing. The family moved to Germantown in 1997
when Rich was transferred in a previous job. 

Lt. Stern's red Toyota Tacoma pickup was his pride,
but a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on order was about to
be his joy. 

After graduation from Tennessee, he was commissioned a
second lieutenant. When his mother talked about the
prayers and thoughts from back home, he thought of
others - a sign of his character, the family said. 

"If you're going to pray for me, Mom," Eileen Stern
recalled her son saying, "make sure you pray for my
whole platoon because it's my job to bring them back
safe." 

Rich Stern said Friday afternoon that they understand
the rest of the Company B, 3rd Platoon returned. 

Lt. Stern's family worried about him daily. They hoped
the yellow ribbons on the trees out front would help
bring him home. They thought the prayers from here
would keep him safe. They thought the tank would keep
him safe. They thought he was safe enough to make it
to mid-October when he had his ticket for the flight
home. Even when Eileen awoke about 4 a.m. Thursday
thinking about him, nothing seemed unusual, until the
two Marines told her that would have been about the
time he was wounded. 

"He woke me up to say goodbye," she said. 

- Clay Bailey: 529-2393 

Staff reporter Bill Dries contributed to this story

2nd story -

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Soldier's letter soothes sorrow
By Clay Bailey
Contact
September 22, 2004

The letter, written in the sweltering heat of Iraq,
was to honor Eileen Stern's 50th birthday. 

It became the definitive testimonial of her son, 1st
Lt. Andrew K. Stern, a 24-year-old Marine from
Germantown killed last week near Fallujah in Iraq. 

The correspondence, read during a remembrance service
for Lt. Stern at Temple Israel Tuesday afternoon,
touched all the aspects of the fallen soldier's life -
his love for his family, his sense of humor and his
appreciation for his parents' support as he matured
into someone who cared as much for his platoon as he
did for himself. 

"Yours and Dad's teaching and guidance are why I am
who I am," Lt. Stern said in his mother's birthday
letter. 

Friends, family, soldiers, classmates and mentors came
from across the country to honor Lt. Stern, a member
of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, who died
Thursday. 

Lt. Stern, who moved to Germantown with his family in
1997, was deployed to Iraq in April and was
tentatively scheduled to return home in mid-October. 

He already had purchased his airline ticket home.
Instead, he will be buried Tuesday at Arlington
National Cemetery. 

During Tuesday's service, the family called on friends
- Kitty Loewy and Terry Steczo - to read the birthday
message to the hundreds gathered in the temple. 

It dealt with everything from the plate of spaghetti
"as big as my head" his mother would have waiting upon
his arrival home to his appreciation for his parents'
love and support. 

Those at the service chuckled as the letter related
the joy of family gatherings, the lessons his parent
taught and the lieutenant's admission that he lacked
style in clothing and decorating. 

Rabbi Micah Greenstein read a statement from the
parents expressing their pride in their son's work
ethic, his intelligence, his leadership and his
character. 

"I cannot ever fully convey to all of you who he was
and cannot convey the magnitude of this loss to me and
Eileen," Greenstein related from Rich Stern. "Our
hearts have a hole in (them) that will never heal. My
lovely wife and children are grieving in a way that no
family should ever know. But even so, Andy will always
live in our hearts and minds." 

Jesse Stamps, who attended the University of Tennessee
with Lt. Stern, drew laughter as he talked about his
friend's dancing and singing, both of which Stamps
said were memorable if not particularly good. 

"He wasn't worried about what the whole world was
thinking. He just lived life to the fullest to the
best he possibly could," Stamps said, becoming
emotional. ". . . He lived as though heaven were here
on Earth." 

Lt. Stern's brother, Justin, accompanied by twin
brothers, Kyle and Zach, talked about how he protected
them, taught them and made them proud. Justin said he
told co-workers his brother was invincible despite the
dangers in Iraq. 

"Andy is my hero, and he is invincible," Justin said
with his brothers standing beside him. "He will always
be here in one way or another, protecting his family,
his friends and his country. 

"We love you, Big Brother." 

- Clay Bailey: 

529-2393

Andy Stern

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