My heart goes out to that family.
T.
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/072706/loc_072706039.shtml
Fallen brothers gave their all in war and in life
BY JASON WOMACK The last time Sarah Harris saw Andrew Velez, he was dressed in uniform carrying the casket of his brother.
They spoke briefly that day about the war that took Andrew's brother Freddy.
"He told me he wanted to go back immediately and finish the job his brother had started," she said.
The 22-year-old Army specialist left for Afghanistan in March. On Monday, he was shot and died there.
The Velez family has now lost two sons in war. Jose "Freddy" Velez, a 23-year-old Army corporal, was killed in 2004 while clearing an enemy strong point in Iraq.
The Army informed the family Tuesday afternoon that Andrew Velez, Freddy's younger brother, was dead.
Harris, an English teacher at Estacado High School, taught both men.
"Both of them will be remembered as heroes," she said. "This school will not forget them or the price their family has paid."
Andrew was bright and energetic, Harris remembered. He and his brother had limitless potential. "There was nothing these guys couldn't accomplish," she said.
Estacado High School named a scholarship in honor of Freddy in 2005. The school displayed his football jersey in the hallway and newspaper articles that told the story of his death so that the students who never knew him would know of his sacrifice.
Now they will find a way to remember Andrew.
"These kids volunteered. They weren't forced into service," David Moody, a football coach at Lubbock High School, said, adding that students should remember how these brothers stepped forward to serve their country.
Moody coached Andrew at Estacado, he marvelled at his strength of character, his strong will and his respectful nature.
He said Andrew represented his family, his father and his country well.
Moody and Harris have both lost students during their long teaching and coaching careers. But the Velez brothers were the first lost to combat.
Roy Velez was still reeling from the news of his son's death. He slept little Tuesday night.
"I feel beat up on the inside," he said.
Several people stopped by the Velez home. The house was filled with people Wednesday morning and friends came and went throughout the day.
"It seems like only yesterday that I was over there talking to them about Freddy," said Louis Kelley, the longtime Estacado head football coach who coached both boys on the gridiron.
Kelley spoke at Freddy's funeral and he plans to be at Andrew's.
"They are part of me," he said. "I coached them. They were my boys."
Andrew and Freddy were the kind of people you wanted to be around, he said. They were dedicated and committed.
"It's so unfair and unfortunate ... that these kids that could have been great leaders were taken from us so young," Kelley said. "They take the best from us sometimes. They were the best."