Did you know that the first casualty of Operation Enduring Freedom was a DirtBoy?

I knew Andy at Mountain when I was then 96-97. He was my NCOIC on the curb machine crew. He loaned me his truck when I moved offbase. He had his flaws but he was a faithful man. He was a family man. He did not compromise his personal values and he had a great work ethic. Short-tempered, in retrospect, he was usually right in in his beliefs, though that temper had consequences in his career. I was at PSAB the morning CNN broke the news of his death and immediately felt a sense of loss. The USAF truly let his family down as his wife heard of his death fro the media first, despite living on base. His death sparked the AFCESA mandated tailgate safety program. He left behind 3 children, as I recall. He is one of 21 troops, Army and AF, that I have known or befriended that have died since 2001 whilein service to this nation.

On a serendipitious note, I would be deployed with the NCO who was operating the forklift that contributed to the incident. We were at Kirkuk together and even 5 years after, he was plagued with a deep sense of guilt despite the mechanical failures that ultimately were the cause of the chain of events that led the Andy's death.