Army Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks, 36, of Queens, N.Y.

Sgt. Seabrooks was assigned to 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry (Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition), New York Army National Guard, Geneva, N.Y.; died June 21, 2008 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. Also killed were Lt. Col. James J. Walton, Spc. Anthony L. Mangano and Sgt. Nelson D. Ramirez Rodriguez.

N.Y. governor orders flags at half-staff for slain soldiers
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Gov. David Paterson has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on government buildings across New York state on Sunday in honor of three Army National Guardsmen killed in Afghanistan.

The governor’s office identified the men as Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks of the South Ozone Park section of Queens; Spc. Anthony Mangano of Greenlawn on Long Island; and Spc. Nelson Rodriguez-Ramirez of Revere, Mass.

The soldiers were killed last Saturday in an ambush en route to a training site. Their vehicle was attacked by an improvised explosive device outside Kandahar, Afghanistan.

All three were assigned to A Troop, Second Squadron 101st Cavalry in upstate New York. They were part of a multinational task force training the Afghan national army and police.

Daily Press -- NEWPORT NEWS - A Newport News woman is mourning the death of her soldier husband who was killed by an explosion in Afghanistan Saturday.

Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks, 36, of Queens, N.Y., was one of four soldiers killed Saturday when their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device and came under small arms fire in Kandahar City, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

Seabrooks was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry of the New York Army National Guard, based in Geneva, N.Y.

His wife Kimberly lives with her mother in the Denbigh area of Newport News.

She said her husband had survived a tour of Iraq four years ago, but Afghanistan was equally dangerous.

"I was shocked," she said Tuesday. "To me Afghanistan is as bad as Iraq." While Kimberly Seabrooks does not believe the U.S. Army should still be in Afghanistan, she said her husband was aware of the risks.

"They know they have a job to do and it's what they are trained to do," she said.

Seabrooks started his tour of duty in Afghanistan in March.

He was sent to Iraq in 2004. "It was really bad out there," his wife said. She initially thought Afghanistan would be a safer posting.

The couple has two children. "He was a loving father and husband and a great person," Kimberly Seabrooks said. "He was very energetic."

Army Sgt. Andrew Seabrooks was killed in action on 6/21/08.