Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

AFGHAN WAR

Deaths bring toll to 1,000, including Mainers

By Scott Monroe smonroe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

On the same day that Army Spc. Wade A. Slack, 21, of Waterville, was buried in Lewis Cemetery in Oakland, there was news of the latest attack in Afghanistan: a suicide bombing killed 18 people, including five American soldiers.

The New York Times reported on its website Tuesday that the attack brought the toll of American military deaths in and around Afghanistan past 1,000.

Although that grim milestone was not universally acknowledged -- on Tuesday, the Associated Press counted 993 and the U.S. Department of Defense 980 -- the Times report highlighted an acceleration of American troop deaths during the last two years. It took nearly seven years to reach the first 500 deaths, the Times reported, but the second 500 have happened in less than two years amid "a resurgent Taliban active in almost every province" and "a weak central government."

Thirteen Mainers serving in the armed forces have died since Operation Enduring Freedom started in 2001, according to an Associated Press count of deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Of the 13 listed deaths, four were local service members.

Evander E. Andrews, 36, of Solon, a master sergeant in the Air Force, was the first American casualty in Operation Enduring Freedom and thus also the first Mainer to die during the war. He was killed Oct. 10, 2001, following a forklift accident during construction of an airfield in Al Udeid, Qatar, in the Arabian Peninsula.

Andrews, according to a Morning Sentinel story, was raised in Solon and was described as a quiet, considerate man; his best friend called him "the basic all-American good guy."

The story said Andrews was married and had four children, who at the time were ages 2 to 9, and said that Andrews hayed fields with his father, ran track at Carrabec High School and loved motorcycles. Andrews had been in the Air Force since 1983.

Joshua M. Bernard, 21, of New Portland, a specialist with the Marines, died Aug. 14, 2009, when his patrol was ambushed by Taliban fighters in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. His father, John Bernard, a former Marine who served as a scout sniper and platoon sergeant in the first Gulf War, said his son at a young age expressed a desire to be a "saver of life like his dad." Joshua Bernard joined the Marines in late 2006, fighting first on the front lines of combat in Iraq. He was deployed to Afghanistan in May 2009.

Bernard was described by family and friends as a devout Christian, an unassuming and intelligent man who was an integral part of his church community. And above all, his aim was to serve, his father said.

Jordan M. Brochu, 20, of Cumberland (formerly of Oakland), an Army specialist, died Aug. 31, 2009, from an attack involving an improvised explosive device in Shuyene Sufia, Afghanistan. The private first class served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

Brochu was remembered by his adoptive mother, Suzanne Brochu, as a bright, inquisitive and passionate young man whose early life was marked by abuse and neglect until at the age of 3, when he came to live with her and her husband, Daniel. She said he was a remarkable young child, always full of questions and intrigued by everything from Legos to the trees in his parents' woods.

Slack, who was buried Tuesday, died May 6, 2010, as a result of mortar fire in Jaghatu, Afghanistan. The 21-year-old Army specialist disarmed explosives and had recently finished disarming a homemade bomb -- called an improvised explosive device -- when the attack happened. He had been in Afghanistan for about 10 months and was assigned to the 707th Ordnance Company, 3rd Ordnance Battalion, from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

Slack grew up in Waterville and was a 2007 Waterville Senior High School graduate. At his funeral Sunday, family and fellow service members recalled Slack as a courageous, smart and cheerful man who put others before himself.

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com