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thedrifter
12-20-05, 05:12 AM
TUESDAY DECEMBER 20, 2005
Last modified: Monday, December 19, 2005 11:58 AM CST
‘A Marine Through and Through'... Stevens remembered for valiant service in Iraq

By Dan Simmons, La Crosse Tribune

MENOMONIE - Sgt. Andy Stevens' military career began young. He wore camouflage to elementary school in Tomah and drew pictures of war zones with crayons. But his devotion didn't stop there.

“Who can forget marching around our yard under Andy's eight-year-old command,” said his sister, Amy Pelle of Rice Lake on Thursday at Stevens' funeral in Menomonie. The comment drew sustained laughter from the packed audience of about 200 at Peace Lutheran Church.

They were there to share stories and mourn the loss of Stevens, 29, one of 10 United States Marines killed Dec. 1 by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He became the second Coulee Region soldier killed in action in Iraq and the 50th Wisconsin soldier to die there.

While he never lost his childhood appreciation for the thrill of battle, Stevens developed a mature philosophy about service. Pelle, a high-school teacher, recalled sharing her frustration with him that some students sit through the Pledge of Allegiance, instead of standing.

“He looked me straight in the eye,” she said, “and told me, ‘I fight as much for their right to sit as your right to stand.'”

Stevens joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Tomah High School in 1995. He served two tours in Iraq, first as a scout sniper and most recently as a team leader. Weeks before he was killed, he had re-enlisted for another tour, his sister said.

Colleagues remembered Stevens as an expert marksman and computer whiz who frequently was called upon for difficult missions and computer help.

“He wanted as high a challenge as was possible,” said Stosh Modrow, 24, who served with Stevens during his first tour in Iraq and flew in for his funeral from his home in Atlanta, Ga. “He didn't just want to be a Marine; he wanted to a sniper, and he wanted to be the best sniper around.”

Modrow met Stevens in 2002 when both were stationed at a base in Twentynine Palms, Calif. and quickly became inspired by him, he said.

“His dedication and devotion distinguished him,” he said. “When we'd get a new piece of equipment, Andy was like a kid in a candy store. He had to know how it worked, how to take it apart, put it back together, make the best possible use of it.”

Modrow said he especially came to appreciate Stevens after being shot in the right forearm in June 2004 while on patrol in Al Anbar province. The wound forced Modrow to abandon his mission and return home for rehabilitation. He emailed Stevens about the incident. And he heard right back.

“He wanted permission to go back where I was shot and get the sniper who shot me,” Modrow said. “He was outraged that the battalion wasn't doing enough to pursue him.”

Although he wasn't given clearance right away, Stevens eventually tracked down his friend's assailant, Modrow said. “I heard Andy got him eventually,” he said. “He wouldn't quit until he did.”

As a sniper, Stevens was often required to go into communities ahead of other troops and stake out positions atop houses or other buildings to provide security for ground forces. Modrow said Stevens particularly enjoyed moving among the local people and learning more about their culture. One time, he said, the two of them spent consecutive nights on the roof of a house.

“Each day,” he said, “the people who lived there would bring us home-cooked meals and water. They recognized that we were there to help them and were willing to help us out, too.”

While Stevens spent most of his adult life far away as a soldier, he remained close to family and friends, who are scattered throughout western Wisconsin. The pastor of his home church, Bill Rice of Gloria Dei Lutheran in Tomah, shared a story Stevens' father, Allen, told him.

It occurred when Stevens was doing a training mission while stationed in Hawaii. A lieutenant ordered Stevens into a Humvee to retrieve forgotten equipment, and urged him to gun it. Stevens followed orders, at one point tipping the truck on two wheels and, Rice said, “turning all his fellow passengers into Christians.” Stevens, however, remained calm and kept driving.

“Who taught you to drive, Stevens?” the lieutenant asked him.

“The driver's ed instructor at Tomah High School,” Stevens replied. “He happens to be my dad.”

After the funeral, Stevens' flag-draped casket was taken to Highland Cemetery for burial. As a bugler played taps atop the hillside, and Marines fired a salute with their rifles, and a large crowd of mourners wept in the winter chill, Modrow said he thought of the millions of people in the sands of Iraq who were casting votes on Thursday. The two events are more than coincidental, he said.

“There's nothing Andy wanted more than seeing Iraq work as a democracy.”

Dan Simmons can be reached at (60 791-8217 or dsimmons@lacrossetribune.com.

Ellie