Army Spc. Brian M. Anderson

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Brian M. Anderson, 24, of Harrisonburg, Va.

Spc. Anderson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died June 12, 2010 in Za Khel, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his vehicle using an improvised explosive device.

Fort Drum - officials announced Tuesday that a 10th Mountain Division soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

The soldier is identified as 24 year old Specialist Brian Michael Anderson of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

A member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, He died in Za Khel, Afghanistan, on June 12 from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive devise attack.

SPC Anderson joined the Army in March 2008 and after completing training arrived at Fort Drum in July 2008.

He was an infantryman with the 1st Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment.

SPC Anderson's awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

HARRISONBURG - Despite being three years older, Andy Anderson looked up to his younger brother Bucky.

Andy watched Bucky win two state championships as a high school wrestler and accomplish just about anything else the 24-year-old from Broadway set his mind to.

So, while mindful of the dangers of war, receiving news that Bucky was killed in Afghanistan this past weekend seemed unreal.

"I collapsed," Andy Anderson said. "He was invincible in my mind. I never saw anything he came across that he couldn't beat.

"You prepare yourself for it, but in the back of my head, I thought it couldn't happen to him."

Army Spc. Brian "Bucky" Anderson, a 2004 Broadway High School graduate, was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan early Saturday morning, his family said.

"He was just making us proud and serving his country," Andy Anderson, 27, said. "He knew that's what he was meant to do."

Brian Anderson joined the Army in 2008 and was based in Fort Drum, New York.

A member of the 10th Mountain Division, Anderson was deployed for the first time to Afghanistan in April. He and three other infantrymen were in the lead vehicle of a convoy patrolling in Afghanistan when the blast occurred, his brother said. The other three soldiers survived.

The flag flying half-mast at the Broadway Volunteer Fire Department tells the story even before folks have a chance to read the sign. Bucky Anderson had only been in Afghanistan three months when his vehicle ran over a roadside bomb. He was the only soldier killed in the explosion.

Since then, his family has received an outpouring of support from the community. Even his former high school wrestling coach came over to reminisce with the family.

Bucky Anderson was a two-time state champion wrestler, but he didn't join the military just looking for a fight. "Bucky being a little older, a little bit more mature than most of the folks that might enlist, you know he went in for all the right reasons. He really felt a compulsion to serve his country," says former wrestling coach Joe Shumate.

Anderson was recalled fondly by former coaches and administrators at Broadway High School, where he was twice a state wrestling champion.

"He was a real friendly kid and intelligent, and would have done well in whatever avenue he took in life. To see that cut short is not easy," said former wrestling coach Rick Juarez, who saw Anderson capture Virginia High School League championships in different weight classifications in 2003 and 2004.

Anderson, who is pictured in Broadway's Hall of Honor for his contributions to both wrestling and football, returned to his alma mater recently to speak to the wrestling team.

Spc. Anderson's sister Jenny Anderson says she had never seen Bucky so proud. "When he graduated from Fort Benning. He was happy. He was proud. He looked great in his uniform. He wore it like it was made for him," Jenny Anderson says.

Anderson's career fit him as well as his uniform. Jenny Anderson says even in the heart of the war she never heard him complain. "I can't recall talking to him in the past year and a half where he ever seemed down about what he was doing," Jenny Anderson says.

However, it was his competitive spirit that makes this loss even more of a shock for family and friends like David Hensley, who always supported Anderson's choice to enlist. "I guess I always just thought he would make it home. I mean in a fight he was invincible. He was good at it," Hensley says.

Just a few days before he died, Anderson received a commendation for his positive attitude and his ability to spread that positivity to his comrades.

Anderson's family was unsure where in Afghanistan he was patrolling, but an account from several news reports says U.S. forces were patrolling in Kunduz city when the attack occurred, and the Taliban claimed responsibility.

More than 1,000 U.S. servicemen and women have died in Afghanistan and the bordering countries of Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

This has been a grim year for U.S. troops in Afghanistan as the Obama administration shifts the military focus there from Iraq and increases pressure on the Taliban.

Spc. Anderson's family will travel this morning to Dover, Del., where his body will be returned to U.S. soil, his brother said. Andy Anderson said the family has not made funeral arrangements and is not sure where he will be buried. Arlington National Cemetery may be his final resting place, Andy Anderson said.

"That's going to be determined tomorrow," he said.

Those who knew Bucky Anderson described him as outgoing, driven and steadfast.

"People looked up to him. He could conquer a lot," his sister Jenny Anderson said. "I guess normal folks like us, we don't think about conquering. We always saw him as being able to do it."

Bucky Anderson made friends quickly, and those friendships lasted a lifetime. Jenny recalled the time a few years ago, when she was going to college at Radford University and took Bucky to a house party there.

"A guy walked up to me and asked if I had seen Bucky recently," she said. "He had been in town for 20 minutes, and people were" asking for him.

Despite graduating from high school six years ago, Anderson's ties to BHS remain strong.

His mother, Margaret, still attends wrestling matches even though her son is no longer on the mat, said Nate Bradley, first-year head wrestling coach for the Gobblers.

"He's just an inspiration to everybody," said Bradley, who wrestled for Riverheads High School at the same time Anderson was at Broadway. "The whole community seems really down."

Broadway hosted a match in Anderson's honor while he was on leave in December. He had spoken to current wrestlers and planned on helping to coach the squad when he returned to the area, said Bradley.

"They all looked up to him ... . That's what you want to be like," Bradley said of the wrestling team. "When he's there and you see what kind of citizen he is, it's something you strive to be like."

Family and friends have been visiting the Andersons nearly constantly since news spread of Bucky's death late Saturday and Sunday.
"It's going to be a long process," Andy Anderson said. "We're holding up for now with all the family and friends."

Army Spc. Brian M. Anderson was killed in action on 6/12/10.