Our Latest American Hero #58

iancanderson&suzanne, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

This is another post in this series with an atypical image. Given the article that accompanies the DOD announcement, I just couldn't take Suzanne out of the picture. May light perpetual shine upon Ian's soul, and may Suzanne find some measure of comfort in the fact that he is an American Hero....

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  They died Jan 15 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.  The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.
Killed were:
Army 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily, 23, of Irvine, CA
Army Sgt. Ian C. Anderson, 22, of Prairie Village, KS
Army Sgt. John E. Cooper, 29, of Ewing, KY
Army Spc. Matthew T. Grimm, 21, of Wisconsin Rapids, WI

“Prairie Village Soldier Dies”
His wife, who also is serving in Iraq, is heading home to be with their 3-year-old girl.

The day before her husband died was one of the best days that Suzanne Anderson had with her young Army husband, despite that they were living in Mosul, Iraq.

It was their last day together.

Sgt. Ian C. Anderson, 22, from Prairie Village, was killed Monday morning, along with three other soldiers. A bomb blew up near their Humvee.

His wife, Suzanne Anderson, 21, who is also in the Army, has left Iraq. She’s traveling home to Kansas, but bad weather is making her journey home even longer.

Both Andersons served in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Bliss, Texas.

Ian Anderson just turned 22 the week before he died. This was his second deployment; he’d already spent a year in Korea. He entered the Army from Prairie Village on Oct. 23, 2002.

“They were in the same unit together,” said Suzanne’s mother, Debby Mason of Prairie Village. “She was determined to join after he did. She wanted to be with him.”

The two attended Shawnee Mission East High School, but they didn’t know each other then, Debby Mason said. Her daughter met Anderson after they’d left high school through their brothers, who are friends.

The Masons heard the terrible news early Monday morning, when their phone rang at 3:30 a.m. Their daughter told them. The Department of Defense released his name officially to the media Wednesday.

“She’s doing well,” said Debby Mason. Her daughter “is a strong woman.”

His son-in-law was “a really good guy,” said Terry Mason. “I couldn’t have asked for a better one …. He was a super, good guy.”

He was the handsome boyfriend, standing 6 feet tall, who asked his girlfriend’s parents permission to marry their daughter, marrying at the Johnson County Courthouse wearing his dress uniform.

He was the husband who didn’t want his wife to join the Army, but supported her when she did.

He was the father who loved his family so deeply that he trusted his most precious gift — the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Lillian — to the care of his in-laws for at least their one-year deployment, knowing Lillian would be loved and cherished the same way his wife was.

“We don’t know what to say to Lillian,” said Debby Mason, as the toddler was gurgling and laughing in the background. “Suzanne told us to let her do it.”

The grandmother sighed. “She’s a great mom, and she’ll handle it the right way.”

The grandparents grow sad when they think about what to tell their granddaughter when she asks about her daddy.

“I’ll tell her that he was a really great guy,” said Terry Mason. “Gosh, I had a crush on him too, he was so great.”

And he laughs, one of the few between his tears.

Debby Mason said she’s hugging her granddaughter a little tighter, a little longer.

“And there’s only one more thing I really need to do,” she said.

“I want my daughter home in my arms. …I just want her home.

“This is so unreal.”