A Friend of Unfair Park sends the grim news: U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Darryn D. Andrews of Dallas was killed in Afghanistan on Friday. The U.S. Department of Defense last night sent out yet another of its matter-of-fact media releases short on details, save for where and how the 34-year-old was killed -- in the Paktia province "of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device and a rocket-propelled grenade." (Other sources have reported that the attack took place in the far more remote, and far more dangeous, Paktika province.)
Andrews was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Fort Richardson, Alaska. Unfair Park has left messages for the public affairs officer on duty, but the Anchorage Daily News provides further details: Andrews and six other soldiers were hit by an RPG while they were "trying to recover their vehicle, which had been struck by an improvised explosive device." According to the Army, Andrews enlisted in June 2004. This month alone, 12 soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.