PFC ANDREW L. TUAZON
293rd Military Police Company
3rd Military Police Battalion
3rd Infantry Division

Army Pfc. Andrew L. Tuazon, Age 21, of Chesapeake, Virginia;
Assigned to the 293rd Military Police Company, 3rd Military Police Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.;
Killed May 10, 2004 by hostile fire while on guard duty in Mosul, Iraq.
(www.militarycity.com)



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.”



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