CHESAPEAKE
SOLDIER KILLED MONDAY IN IRAQ
By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 13, 2004
(http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=70259&ran=16105)
CHESAPEAKE —
Rosemerry Tuazon thinks there’s a Mother’s Day card in the mail for her
somewhere, a last communication from her only son.
Andrew L.
Tuazon, a 21-year-old Army private and 2001 graduate of Western Branch
High School, was gunned down in action Monday in Mosul, Iraq – killed
instantly , she said, by a sniper’s bullet .
Andrew
Tuazon was a military policeman with the Georgia-based 3rd Infantry
Division’s 3rd MP Battalion, 293rd MP Company and had been in Iraq
since early March . It was his second combat deployment, his mother
said; he’d already spent six months in Afghanistan.
The day
before he died – Mother’s Day – Andrew e-mailed her to say he loved
her, and that he’d sent her a card.
But a knock
on the door arrived first.
It came
Monday, around 10 p.m. , to the house in the Dunedin neighborhood of
Chesapeake where Andrew and his sister grew up. Andrew’s mother had
just gotten out of the shower.
“I saw the
two in the Army uniforms, and I just collapsed to the floor because I
knew what they were going to tell me,” Rosemerry Tuazon said.
Her son’s
body was to arrive at Dover Air Force Base either late Wednesday night
or early this morning , and Rosemerry Tuazon said he would be buried
alongside his grandparents at Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Chesapeake.
Funeral
arrangements are pending but will be handled by New Hope Baptist Church
in Suffolk, where Andrew Tuazon had been a member.
Art
Brandriff , principal of Western Branch High School, knew Andrew
Tuazon, but not well. “He was a nice kid, a friendly boy and good
hearted,” Brandriff said.
He was
involved in the school’s Latin Club and ran track during his first
year, Brandriff said.
Wednesday ,
Andrew Tuazon’s mother and stepfather, Ron Czypinski, shared pictures
and memories of the boy they called Andy.
“He wanted
to save him up some money, and he wanted to travel,” Rosemerry Tuazon
said about her son Andrew L. Tuazon’s plans to join the Army.
Rosemerry
Tuazon wore a shirt with red, white and blue stars on it. An American
flag and patriotic wreath hung outside near her son’s shiny Honda
Accord . He hadn’t wanted to put it in storage for the year he’d be in
Iraq.
As a sign
of her son’s thoughtfulness and warmth, Rosemerry Tuazon pointed out a
little stone cat from Afghanistan he’d bought her as a good luck charm.
He loved
Zero’s subs, and worked at Zero’s shop from age 14 through high school.
Like his
grandfather, he learned to weld and took a job at a shipyard after high
school. But after six months, he wanted something more, they said.
“He wanted
to save him up some money, and he wanted to travel,” Rosemerry Tuazon
said.
He joined
the Army in November 2002, signing up for five years.
“To be
perfectly honest with you, I really didn’t want Andrew to join the
service,” Rosemerry Tuazon said. “I thought this was the worst possible
time to join.”
But he’d
made up his mind, and she knew he wouldn’t change it. “So I wished him
good luck and told him he had my blessing.”
Czypinski
said he was proud of his stepson’s choices and work ethic. Andrew
Tuazon’s father died when he was 5 years old, and Czypinski said he’d
been part of the boy’s life since then.
Pinned to
his shirt was a laminated button of Andrew Tuazon in his Army fatigues.
“I said I
wasn’t going to take it off until he came back home,” Czypinski said,
his voice cracking. “He’ll be back home soon.”
293rd MPs say their goodbyes to Stewart,
family, friends
(Article quoting PFC Tuazon upon
deployment to Iraq)
The Frontline - Ft. Stewart
By PFC Emily J. Danial
(http://www.stewart.army.mil/frontlineonline/archivedpages/FrontlineOnline03-11-04News.pdf)
Soldiers in the
293rd Military Police Company headed out to Iraq late Saturday night
from their motor pool at Fort Stewart.
Families,
friends and loved ones came to see the unit off for their first
Operation Iraqi Freedom rotation, and stayed from the beginning of the
evening until the buses rolled out at about 11 p.m.
“Everybody,
of course, is going to have mixed emotions about this, whether or not
this is necessary, you know,” said Pfc. Torry A. Williams, an MP in
fourth platoon.
“But hey,
this is our job … it’s just a long day at work, hooah,” he said.
The
Soldiers had a formation behind their company at about 8 p.m., and then
spent the next hour bidding final farewells to their loved ones.
Some,
though, found it easier to avoid last-minute send-offs. “My mom was
here earlier, but she doesn’t do long goodbyes,” Williams said.
"We said
our goodbyes earlier, and I put her on a plane at about (1 p.m.)
today.”
The company
returned from its last deployment less than a year ago, but even though
most said they weren’t looking forward to their deployment, they
managed to keep an optimistic attitude.
“From here,
we hop on a plane, go do our job, do what we’ve been trained to do and
come home,” Williams said with a smile.
At about 10
p.m., the unit marched from the company to the motor pool, where they
loaded their belongings up on trucks and then loaded themselves up on
buses.
Families
stood on the side of the road across from the motor pool as the buses
pulled out, shouting and waving to their Soldiers.
Pfc. Andrew
Lee Tuazon, another 293rd MP, said he was anxious to leave.
He added,
“A year is a long time, but I can’t wait to leave so I can hurry up and
get back.”