Army Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt, 31, of Rosemount, Minn.

Spc Wilfahrt was assigned to 504th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; died Feb. 27, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

MINNEAPOLIS – A military policeman from Rosemount has died in an attack in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense says Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt died Sunday when insurgents attacked his unit in Kandahar province using a homemade bomb.

The 31-year-old Wilfahrt was assigned to a military police battalion based in Hawaii. He enlisted in the Army in January 2009 and was deployed to Afghanistan last July.

Principal John Wollersheim says Wilfahrt graduated from Rosemount High School in 1997.

His uncle, Charlie Wilfahrt of Minneapolis, says his nephew was a talented musician who had found purpose in life in the Army.

Bomb Kills Schofield Soldier

A Schofield Barracks military policeman was killed Sunday in southern Afghanistan and another was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded as they were on foot patrol in Kandahar city, officials said.

Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt, 31, of Rosemount, Minn., was part of the 552nd Military Police Company, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command.

Spc. Wilfahrt, who was not married, is survived by his parents, Jeff and Lori Wilfahrt as well as a brother Peter, 26 and a sister Martha, 27. His uncle, Charlie Wilfahrt of Minneapolis, said his nephew was a talented musician who found purpose in life in the Army.

Classmates of the 1997 Rosemount High School graduate described Wilfahrt as kind, outgoing and talented, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

He had been a member of the choir and marching band and later traveled around Europe and Central America, the newspaper said.

Wilfahrt's father, Jeff, told the newspaper that family members were at Dover Air Force Base, Del., yesterday, grieving and awaiting the return of his body.

Elizabeth Schaefer's grandson Andrew Wilfahrt wrote in December to thank her for the care package with homemade chocolate chip cookies she sent him in Afghanistan.

"He just wrote to say that he enjoyed them ... and he sounded as though he was OK," the New Ulm, Minn., resident said. It was the final letter Schaefer, 91, received from her grandson.

The 31-year-old military police officer from Rosemount died Sunday of wounds inflicted by a makeshift bomb while serving in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said Monday.

Andy Wilfahrt, a 1997 graduate of Rosemount High School, was a specialist assigned to the 552nd Military Police Company. He was patrolling on foot with his unit in Kandahar Province on Sunday when the bomb went off, said Lt. Col. Matt Garner, public affairs officer for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command.

Wilfahrt was pronounced dead at a military hospital in Kandahar Province. On Monday, his parents, Jeff and Lori, flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to await their son's return to the United States, Schaefer said.

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. - Family and friends are remembering a fallen Minnesota soldier as kind, outgoing and musically-gifted.

Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt died Sunday when insurgents attacked his unit in Kandahar province using an improvised explosive device, said the Department of Defense.

In his hometown of Rosemount, word of his death spread quickly Monday. Shelia Wandersee lives in the cul-de-sac where Wilfahrt's parents reside. Wandersee said she remembers the melodies that would drift across the street when Wilfahrt was playing the piano.

Emily Pavlik also sent in a photo to FOX 9 News of a 1999 trip Wilfahrt took to Nicaragua, saying,"He really enjoyed playing with the children in this remote rural Nicaraguan community."

Army Spc. Andrew C. Wilfahrt was killed in action on 2/27/11.