Rabid Cougar
09-13-2009, 11:37 AM
He took care of my parents animals when he was in high school.
Hundreds attend funeral service for soldier in Cameron
By Cody Winchester Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sunday, September 13, 2009
CAMERON — He went scuba diving with sharks. He jumped out of airplanes, both civilian and military. He had a unique sense of humor — Army friends recall the time he wore a kilt during a field training exercise.
And he was hailed as a hero during a funeral service Saturday afternoon in Cameron, his hometown. Under a slate-gray sky, a long motorcade of police, fire trucks and motorcyclists escorted a flag-draped coffin to the church.
The memorial service for 2nd Lt. Darryn Deen Andrews painted a portrait of a selfless, friendly man whose early wanderlust and restiveness were eventually put to rest by a military career.
Hundreds of people packed Cameron’s First Baptist Church to pay tribute to a soldier described by friends and family as principled, courageous and patriotic, someone who “brought joy to every occasion,” in the words of a former schoolmate.
A 34-year-old paratrooper in Fort Richardson, Alaska’s 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, Andrews died Sept. 4 in eastern Afghanistan, in the Yahya Khail district of Paktika Province.
According to a U.S. Army Alaska news release, Andrews and six other soldiers had gotten out of their vehicle, which had just been hit by an improvised explosive device, when they were hit again by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing Andrews and wounding the others.
During the eulogy, Pastor Bill Gravell Jr. said that an Army colonel had given him a more detailed picture of Andrews’ death. After the front vehicle was hit by the IED, Andrews and a few others who had gotten out to assist them came under small arms fire. Andrews saw an incoming RPG and pushed three of his soldiers out of the way, bearing the brunt of the blast himself.
His burial will be Monday at the Fort Sam Houston cemetery in San Antonio.
He leaves behind a son, Daylan Deen, who turned 2 years old Monday, and an unborn daughter due in December to his wife of two years, Julie.
Early life
Born at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, Andrews and his family moved to Cameron when he was a sophomore in high school.
Andrews and his fraternal twin, Jarrett, played football at C.H. Yoe High School, Darryn a lineman, his brother behind him at quarterback.
Both brothers attended Texas Tech after graduating. Darryn, the elder twin by three minutes, majored in international business. Afterward he worked a variety of jobs, even coming back to Yoe High to teach and coach football. But friends and family say he was restless.
“It wasn’t satisfying for him,” Jarrett said. “It wasn’t meaningful enough.”
It was only after enlisting in 2002 that he found his true calling. He was following the legacy of his father, his uncle and his maternal grandfather, John Edward Brown, who was a prisoner of war during World War II.
From an early age, Darryn had a strong sense of duty and a romantic view of military life, his brother said.
“When you get older, people get cynical, but he never did,” said Jarrett, now a lawyer for Energy Future Holdings in Dallas.
Called to serve
Darryn Andrews’ first tour of duty was in Afghanistan. When he returned, he went to Texas State University for a master’s degree in education and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army.
“As a community, we sent him off to war,” Gravell said at the memorial service. “A nation sent us back a hero.”
The casket sat amid dozens of bouquets of flowers beneath a stained-glass window of Jesus’ baptism. A picture slide show projected onto the wall showed Andrews mugging for the camera, napping with his son, wrapping people up in one of his famous bear hugs.
At the family’s request, the few dozen or so servicemembers at the funeral sat together up front. They all attested to Andrews’ patriotism and selflessness.
“He loved his wife; he loved Texas; he loved his country,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew Krivensky, who was commissioned with Andrews at Texas State.
Andrews arrived in Alaska in February 2009, after a stint at Fort Benning, Ga., and was soon on his second deployment to Afghanistan.
“That guy loved the military more than anything in the world,” 2nd Lt. Eric Leatherman said.
The military had given Andrews a newfound focus, and it seemed to make his life — and death — more meaningful.
“It was where he wanted to be,” Jarrett Andrews said.
Second loss for family
Darryn’s parents, Sondra and Robert, are burying their second child. Their oldest, Joni, died in 1998 of a rare autoimmune disorder. She was 26.
“It’s been hard. My parents never tried to do anything but the right thing,” Jarrett Andrews said. “To lose two kids — how do you rationalize that?”
One of Darryn Andrews’ childhood friends, 35-year-old Tommy Brashear, also lost a sibling growing up, something he said cemented their bond. He was one of the pallbearers Saturday.
“Darryn was a guy that had a big heart,” he said. “He was a great friend.”
Whenever he came back into town, often unannounced, he would gather up all his friends and hit the town.
“Any time we were in a setting like that, he just glowed,” Jarrett Andrews said.
Darryn was never completely sure when his tour was supposed to end, his brother said, but he thought he would be home by February.
At the close of Saturday’s service, Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins spoke briefly about the care Andrews showed for his soldiers.
“He loved his men,” he said. Then he presented Andrews’ family with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and his dog tags “on behalf of a grateful nation.”
cwinchester@wacotrib.com
757-5743
Hundreds attend funeral service for soldier in Cameron
By Cody Winchester Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sunday, September 13, 2009
CAMERON — He went scuba diving with sharks. He jumped out of airplanes, both civilian and military. He had a unique sense of humor — Army friends recall the time he wore a kilt during a field training exercise.
And he was hailed as a hero during a funeral service Saturday afternoon in Cameron, his hometown. Under a slate-gray sky, a long motorcade of police, fire trucks and motorcyclists escorted a flag-draped coffin to the church.
The memorial service for 2nd Lt. Darryn Deen Andrews painted a portrait of a selfless, friendly man whose early wanderlust and restiveness were eventually put to rest by a military career.
Hundreds of people packed Cameron’s First Baptist Church to pay tribute to a soldier described by friends and family as principled, courageous and patriotic, someone who “brought joy to every occasion,” in the words of a former schoolmate.
A 34-year-old paratrooper in Fort Richardson, Alaska’s 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, Andrews died Sept. 4 in eastern Afghanistan, in the Yahya Khail district of Paktika Province.
According to a U.S. Army Alaska news release, Andrews and six other soldiers had gotten out of their vehicle, which had just been hit by an improvised explosive device, when they were hit again by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing Andrews and wounding the others.
During the eulogy, Pastor Bill Gravell Jr. said that an Army colonel had given him a more detailed picture of Andrews’ death. After the front vehicle was hit by the IED, Andrews and a few others who had gotten out to assist them came under small arms fire. Andrews saw an incoming RPG and pushed three of his soldiers out of the way, bearing the brunt of the blast himself.
His burial will be Monday at the Fort Sam Houston cemetery in San Antonio.
He leaves behind a son, Daylan Deen, who turned 2 years old Monday, and an unborn daughter due in December to his wife of two years, Julie.
Early life
Born at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, Andrews and his family moved to Cameron when he was a sophomore in high school.
Andrews and his fraternal twin, Jarrett, played football at C.H. Yoe High School, Darryn a lineman, his brother behind him at quarterback.
Both brothers attended Texas Tech after graduating. Darryn, the elder twin by three minutes, majored in international business. Afterward he worked a variety of jobs, even coming back to Yoe High to teach and coach football. But friends and family say he was restless.
“It wasn’t satisfying for him,” Jarrett said. “It wasn’t meaningful enough.”
It was only after enlisting in 2002 that he found his true calling. He was following the legacy of his father, his uncle and his maternal grandfather, John Edward Brown, who was a prisoner of war during World War II.
From an early age, Darryn had a strong sense of duty and a romantic view of military life, his brother said.
“When you get older, people get cynical, but he never did,” said Jarrett, now a lawyer for Energy Future Holdings in Dallas.
Called to serve
Darryn Andrews’ first tour of duty was in Afghanistan. When he returned, he went to Texas State University for a master’s degree in education and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army.
“As a community, we sent him off to war,” Gravell said at the memorial service. “A nation sent us back a hero.”
The casket sat amid dozens of bouquets of flowers beneath a stained-glass window of Jesus’ baptism. A picture slide show projected onto the wall showed Andrews mugging for the camera, napping with his son, wrapping people up in one of his famous bear hugs.
At the family’s request, the few dozen or so servicemembers at the funeral sat together up front. They all attested to Andrews’ patriotism and selflessness.
“He loved his wife; he loved Texas; he loved his country,” said 2nd Lt. Matthew Krivensky, who was commissioned with Andrews at Texas State.
Andrews arrived in Alaska in February 2009, after a stint at Fort Benning, Ga., and was soon on his second deployment to Afghanistan.
“That guy loved the military more than anything in the world,” 2nd Lt. Eric Leatherman said.
The military had given Andrews a newfound focus, and it seemed to make his life — and death — more meaningful.
“It was where he wanted to be,” Jarrett Andrews said.
Second loss for family
Darryn’s parents, Sondra and Robert, are burying their second child. Their oldest, Joni, died in 1998 of a rare autoimmune disorder. She was 26.
“It’s been hard. My parents never tried to do anything but the right thing,” Jarrett Andrews said. “To lose two kids — how do you rationalize that?”
One of Darryn Andrews’ childhood friends, 35-year-old Tommy Brashear, also lost a sibling growing up, something he said cemented their bond. He was one of the pallbearers Saturday.
“Darryn was a guy that had a big heart,” he said. “He was a great friend.”
Whenever he came back into town, often unannounced, he would gather up all his friends and hit the town.
“Any time we were in a setting like that, he just glowed,” Jarrett Andrews said.
Darryn was never completely sure when his tour was supposed to end, his brother said, but he thought he would be home by February.
At the close of Saturday’s service, Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins spoke briefly about the care Andrews showed for his soldiers.
“He loved his men,” he said. Then he presented Andrews’ family with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and his dog tags “on behalf of a grateful nation.”
cwinchester@wacotrib.com
757-5743