Soldier from Enterprise killed in Afghanistan

Enterprise High football coach Kevin Collins remembers a conversation earlier this year with former Wildcat head coach Kenneth Hand about his son, Andrew.

Andrew Hand, a 2004 Enterprise High graduate and wide receiver on the football team, had already served one stint in the Army, including two terms in Iraq. Coach Hand told Collins that Andrew had put his job as an insurance salesman on hold and decided to re-enlist in the Army.

“He’s just good at being a soldier,” Hand told Collins.

There are two things about the high school football career of Andrew Hand that back his father’s assessment, according to those who coached him.

First, he volunteered for everything.

“You never had to ask him to do anything,” said Matt Rogers, an assistant coach at Enterprise. “He was always around the fieldhouse.”

Second, he was fearless.

“He was a little bit undersized, but he returned punts for us and I reckon he didn’t believe in fair-catching a punt,” Rogers said. “He had the heart of a lion.”

Pfc. Andrew Hand, 25, was on his first tour in Qalat, Afghanistan, Saturday when he was killed after an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee. Three other soldiers died in the explosion. Hand’s body was scheduled to be returned to Dover Air Force Base either late Sunday or early Monday. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Teachers, coaches and administrators described Hand as a quiet student who stayed out of trouble.

“He came by the school just to visit some people about a year ago,” assistant principal Steven Graves said. “He was a gutsy kid.”

“He was quiet and assuming, but you could see a character behind the quiet front,” said Dr. Jim Reese, superintendent of Enterprise City Schools. “He was the kind of a person you knew would represent our country well. Every time I saw him, he would speak to me and we would carry on a good conversation.”

Hand was assigned to 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He grew up in the Brookwood area near Tuscaloosa but moved to Enterprise for high school when Kenneth Hand became head coach at Enterprise in 2001.
Hand is the second soldier from Enterprise killed in just more than a month. Spc. Brendan Neenan, 21, died June 7 from the detonation of an IED.

“Our city has lost a lot of young people,” Reese said, referring to the loss of the soldiers, eight students in a 2007 tornado that struck the high school, and others due to illness and accidents. “Any time you lose young people, it’s just devastating. It’s another example of just how fragile life is.”

Hand entered active service Nov. 15, 2005. Following his initial term of active service, he re-enlisted Oct. 17, 2008. He reported to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and was assigned to the 657th Fire Support Company, 17th Fires Brigade. The battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in October of 2009.

Hand's civilian and military education includes a high school diploma, and the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Crewmember Qualification Course.

His awards and decorations include the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, and Combat Action Badge.