CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- One by one, members of the 115th Military Police Company walked through the auditorium toward the empty helmet and the empty pair of boots. When they reached the memorial near the stage, many saluted. Others made the sign of the cross. One soldier knelt and buried his face in his hands.
It was their way of saying goodbye to Specialist Michael Andrade, of Bristol, who died last month in a Humvee crash on a supply route north of Baghdad.
For yesterday's service, all 125 members of the 115th came to the fortified confines of Camp Arifjan, the U.S. military's supply and maintenance depot, in Kuwait.
The Rhode Island Army National Guard unit has come to live and work in this swath of sand, about a 40-minute drive outside Kuwait City.
After losing Andrade and two other members, the 115th has been pulled off the frontlines and assigned to safer duty.
Andrade was only days away from moving with his unit to Kuwait when an 18-wheeler crashed into the Humvee he was riding in. The Bristol native was killed instantly. The other two soldiers in the Humvee survived the crash.
"Although Specialist Andrade has passed away," Capt. Samuel Maldonado, the 115th's commander, told the auditorium packed with MPs, many wearing black armbands over their desert camouflage. "It's very evident he will live on in the hearts of the many people he touched."
Andrade was memorialized in a brick auditorium at Arifjan, a small city of square buildings, green tents and warehouses that was once a bustling staging area for the invasion of Iraq. Yesterday, the auditorium was a quiet refuge from the stifling humidity outside -- typical October weather as the rainy season approaches.
On the stark stage, dotted by a row of military flags and folding chairs, many soldiers spoke about Andrade's willingness to help in any situation. 1st Sgt. Thomas Dolan said that Andrade was the kind of soldier he would ask to introduce new members around the unit because of his easygoing demeanor. Specialist Zachary Davis, 20, called Andrade his hero.
During the ceremony, Dolan called out Andrade's name for roll call but he got no response from the more than 200 people filling the room. "Specialist Andrade . . . Specialist Andrade . . . Specialist Michael Andrade."
A soldier replied: "Specialist Andrade is no longer with us."
ON THE MORNING of Sept. 24, Andrade talked to Specialist Shawn Hayes, of North Attleboro, about their plans to take temporary leave -- a much-needed rest after nearly five months patrolling some of the most dangerous parts of Iraq.
Andrade and Hayes were given the option of going to Germany, and they talked about calling their wives to meet them there.
"But neither his family nor he himself will have that pleasure," said Hayes, a father of four.
Specialist John Urban, 24, of East Providence, was riding with Andrade, manning a mounted machine gun in the turret, when the truck crashed into the passenger side of the Humvee.
Urban suffered only minor injuries. The Humvee driver, Specialist Todd Titus, is expected to return to the unit in a few days, said Dolan. Witnesses said the driver of the 18-wheeler military truck didn't see the Humvee, as a passing convoy kicked up a dust cloud that obscured the view.
Urban, a North Kingstown police officer, said that in the moments after the collision, he took the Kevlar plate out of Andrade's flak-jacket to help him breathe. But Andrade was unresponsive.
Andrade was buried last weekend in Bristol. Urban said he would have liked to attend Andrade's wake in Rhode Island, but he was grateful to be able to memorialize him yesterday. "I want to send my deepest sympathies to his family," he said.
Andrade left behind his wife, Kristen, and a stepson. The couple had recently picked out a new house in Bristol. Andrade deployed with the 115th in February.
LT. COL. JAMES E. Keighley walked from the memorial to the back of the auditorium and out the door, his eyes blurred by tears.
Keighley commands the 118th Military Police Battalion, which includes the 115th and 119th MP companies, both Rhode Island National Guard units.
Keighley came down from Baghdad for yesterday's memorial service. The rest of the 118th Battalion is still stationed in Iraq and coming under frequent attack, Keighley said.
"Several months ago when we deployed, we expected many hardships, but we prayed we would be spared any tragedies," said Keighley, a Fall River police officer.
Last month, Staff Sgt. Joseph Camara and Sgt. Charles Todd Caldwell, also of the 115th, were killed in their Humvee by what appeared to be a remote detonated mine on a road outside Baghdad. More than a dozen members of the 115th have been wounded by explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenade attacks in Iraq, Maldonado said.
Hayes spent yesterday afternoon in an air-conditioned tent at the edge of Arifjan. One of the Guardsmen had received a Sony PlayStation in the mail. Four young men wearing flip-flops and sandals huddled around the television screen playing a skateboarding game. They had three refrigerators stocked with soda, and fans circulating cool air.
"It's the first time we've been able to relax and get a lot of the things that have happened out of our heads," Hayes said.
DIGITAL EXTRA: Browse more reports from the war's local and distant fronts, post messages to the troops, and find out more about Iraq at:
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