NAME: SGT Andrew W. Brown
PLACE OF BIRTH: Pleasant Mount, PA
DATE OF BIRTH: 1982
DATES OF SERVICE: 2000 - 08 Oct 2004
UNIT ASSIGNED: 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry
DIED: 08 Oct 2004, Died of Wounds, Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
BURIED: Saint James Cemetery - Pleasant Mount, Pennsylvania
SUMMARY OF SERVICE:
SGT Andrew W. Brown 22, of Pleasant Mount, Pa.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry, Fort Polk, La.; died Oct. 8 in Baghdad of injuries sustained Oct. 1 when his patrol vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
Wayne County native killed in Iraq
Associated Press
PLEASANT MOUNT, Pa. - An active-duty soldier from northeast Pennsylvania died Friday in Iraq, a week after he was injured when his patrol vehicle was struck by an explosive device, the Defense Department said.
Sgt. Andrew W. Brown, 22, of Pleasant Mount in Wayne County, had been in Iraq since June, his mother, Lourdes Brown, said Sunday night.
Brown, who died in Baghdad, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Polk, La., according to a Defense Department news release.
"I had talked to him about a week ago," Lourdes Brown said. "He was fine."
Military officials have given the family some information about how he died, but they were still trying to gather more details, she said.
She declined to elaborate on her son's life, saying the news was "still very raw."
"We’re just waiting for him to come home so we can plan his funeral," Lourdes Brown said.
Brown, who was single, is also survived by his father, William Jr., and his brother, Kevin, she said.
Sgt. Brown Described 'A Regular Hometown Boy'
By THOMAS M. Di-STASIO
PLEASANT MOUNT - On various websites and newspaper stories, Sgt. Andrew W. Brown is being described as a hero who paid the ultimate price for the freedom of others.
In the village of Pleasant Mount, he is also being remembered as a quiet, hometown boy.
U.S. Army Sgt. Andrew W. Brown, 22, died October 8th in Iraq, a week after he was injured when his patrol vehicle was struck by an explosive device.
A 2000 honor graduate of Forest City High School, Brown was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 509th Infantry based in Fort Polk, LA, according to a Defense Department news release.
Dolores McCusker said that Sgt. Brown was a regular hometown boy, quiet and a former Boy Scout. She said that he was always dressed up and being in the Army was something that he had always wanted to do.
"He loved pierogies," she said. "His mother would send them to him when he joined the service."
She said that she has not been over to see the family noting that she wants to allow the family to grieve. Ms. McCusker described the Brown family as very close and tight-knit who will lean on each other for strength in a time like this.
The flags throughout the village have been at half-staff since the news of Sgt. Brown's death. She said that Pleasant Mount is collectively praying for the family.
"It's a tragic loss," she said. "It has really hit this village hard, even for those who didn't know him."
Sgt. Brown, who was single, is survived by his parents William and Lourdes Brown Jr., and a brother Kevin.
©2006 509thgeronimo.org. All Rights Reserved.