My walk today was dedicated in honor of:
Marine 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern, Age 24 of Germantown, TN.
KIA Sept. 16, 2004 Anbar province, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom
He was assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, CA.
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 Lieutenant 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 Lieutenant 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. Lieutenant 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. Rousting 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, Lieutenant 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 Lieutenant 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.
Lieutenant 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.
Lieutenant 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.
When I started walking I figured we would do a small walk. 1st Lt. Stern had figured different I guess as we ended up walking 13.53 miles. What an amazing walk we had. We ended up taking a complete different route then I thought we would. Had a great walk and got to meet some great people on the way. I want to thank everyone who honked and waved in helping me honor this hero.
He will not be forgotten.
