Andrew Patrick Daul – Sergeant, United States Army

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NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 1302-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2006

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Specialist Andrew P. Daul, 21, of Brighton, Michigan, died December 19, 2006, in Hit, Iraq, of injuries suffered then an improvised explosive device detonated near his Abrams tank during combat operations.He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany.

For further information related to this release, contact the 1st Armored Division public affairs office at 011-49-611-705-4859.

27 December 2006:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today ordered that United States flags throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters be flown at half-staff on Friday, December 29, 2006, in honor of Army Specialist Andrew P. Daul of Brighton who died December 19, 2006, while on active duty in Iraq.

Army Specialist Daul, age 21, died from injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Abrams tank during combat operations in Hit, Iraq.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany.

Under Section 7 of Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code, 4 USC 7, Governor Granholm, in December 2003, issued a proclamation requiring United States flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout the state of Michigan and on Michigan waters to honor Michigan servicemen and servicewomen killed in the line of duty.  Procedures for flag lowering were detailed by Governor Granholm in Executive Order 2006-10.

When flown at half-staff, the United States flag should be hoisted first to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff or half-mast position.  The flag should again be raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.

When a member of the armed services from Michigan is killed in action, the governor will issue a press release with information about the individual(s) and the day that has been designated for flags to be lowered in his or her honor.  The information will also be posted on Governor Granholm’s website at www.michigan.gov/gov in the section titled ‘Spotlight.’

Courtesy of the Ann Arbor (Michigan) News

A Somber Christmas
But support flows to family that lost son in Iraq

Friday, December 29, 2006
BY RICK FITZGERALD

Michael Daul said the outpouring of love and support from family, friends and total strangers in the 10 days since the death of his son in Iraq has been “absolutely overwhelming.”

He said people have brought over “enough food to feed an army” and there has been a constant flow of cards, e-mails and phone calls of support coming into the family.

Michael and Kathy Daul’s 21-year-old son, U.S. Army Specialist Andrew Patrick Daul, was killed when an improvised explosive device went off near his Abrams tank December 19, 2006, in Hit, Iraq. He was nearing the end of his second tour of duty in Iraq and was last home one year ago at Christmas.

Michael Daul said the family had a much more somber Christmas this year, but he says being surrounded by family and friends helped them immensely.

He said a stranger from South Lyon called one day to express his condolences. He explained that his company puts up Christmas-tree-shaped lighting displays and he offered to put one in the Dauls’ front yard.

A few hours later he came by and installed the lighted tree in front of their Brighton Township home. “It was very gratifying,” said Michael Daul. The man’s gesture “made the holiday easier to bear.”

Michael Daul said the family has heard from friends in California, other military families from across the U.S. and other soldiers in Iraq who served with their son.

“You don’t know how many lives have been touched by a young man like Andrew until something like this happens,” said his father.

Today the family will gather at Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church in Brighton Township for a funeral service for Andrew Daul. He will be buried in early January at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. The funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the church, 2101 S. Hacker Road.

In addition to his parents, Daul is survived by two sisters, Lindsey, 20; and Audrey, 15; and numerous aunts, uncles and other family members.

Daul was a tanker from the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division based in Friedberg, Germany. The 2003 Brighton High School graduate is one of at least four Livingston County military personnel to be killed in the line of duty since the conflict in Iraq started.

Michael Daul said his son was the kind of soldier who tried to find ways to help the Iraqis amid the death of war. He described a time when Andrew Daul was manning a checkpoint in Iraq when he witnessed a huge explosion that ignited a nearby vehicle with civilians inside.

Daul leaped from the safety of his tank and pulled the two civilians from the burning car. One died; he breathed life back into and saved the other civilian.

While Daul worried like everyone else about the hazards of war, he reassured his family.

“Everyone is very, very proud of Andrew,” his father said. “Even though we always knew this is something that could happen, it’s still shocking. We felt he was in a relatively safe place, if there is such a thing in Iraq.”

Andrew Daul became interested in serving in the military during his senior year at Brighton High School. He had served three and a half years, earning various awards and commendations.

Daul wasn’t planning a military life, however. He was looking forward to finishing that chapter of his life in July 2007 and coming home. He planned to work for his father’s environmental consulting firm initially and then pursue a career in fitness or nutrition.

“He was very excited about returning to civilian life,” his father said. “He wanted to buy a home and start his life. … He felt he’d had enough. All he talked about in recent months was his upcoming discharge.”

Daul was an avid and competitive bodybuilder, an interest that had its roots in school but blossomed in the military, his father said. He was a big, strong guy with a great sense of humor, his father said. Daul ran track one year at Brighton High and was fascinated by extreme sports such as skiing and snowboarding.

Daul would have rotated out of Iraq and returned to the base in Germany in February, his father said.

“He spent most of his enlistment engaged in combat action and although he didn’t enjoy war, he believed in what he was doing,” Michael Daul said. “He loved the military life and camaraderie. He was a very, very good soldier.”

29 December 2006:

A Germany-based soldier killed in Iraq on Tuesday has been identified by the Department of Defense as Spc. Andrew P. Daul, a member of the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment.

Daul, a 21-year-old native of Brighton, Michigan, died in Hit of injuries suffered when a makeshift bomb detonated near his Abrams tank during combat operations. He was the seventh soldier from his battalion to die in combat in Iraq since deploying in January.

A memorial for Daul has been set for January 8, 2007, at 4 p.m., in the Ray Barracks chapel, Friedberg, Germany.

“He was involved in many good deeds, restoring schools and resurrecting streets, the wonderful things we don’t get to experience,” his mother, Kathy Daul, told a Michigan television station.

Earlier in the deployment, Daul was manning a checkpoint when he witnessed a huge explosion that ignited a nearby vehicle with two civilians inside, according to the Ann Arbor News in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Daul leapt from his tank and pulled the civilians from the burning car. He breathed life back into one of the victims; the other could not be revived, according to the newspaper.

“Everyone is very, very proud of Andrew,” his father, Michael Daul, told the Ann Arbor News. “Even though we always knew this is something that could happen, it’s still shocking. We felt he was in a relatively safe place, if there is such a thing in Iraq.”

With less than two months remaining on his second Iraq tour and about six months left before his scheduled departure from the military, Daul was looking forward to life as a civilian, his dad said.

Daul was an avid bodybuilder and planned to pursue a career in fitness or nutrition after leaving the Army, his father said.

“He wanted to buy a home and start his life,” he told the Ann Arbor News. “He felt he’d had enough. All he talked about in recent months was his upcoming discharge.”

1st AD soldier killed by bomb in Iraq is promoted
Stars and Stripes

Mideast edition, Thursday, December 28, 2006

A 1st Armored Division soldier killed in Iraq on December 19, 2006, has been posthumously promoted, a spokesman for the division said Wednesday.

Andrew P. Daul, 21, of Brighton, Michigan, who was killed by a makeshift bomb in Hit during combat operations, has been promoted from Specialist to Sergeant, said Major Wayne Marotto, a 1st Armored Division spokesman.

Daul was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, based in Friedberg, Germany.

He was the seventh soldier from his battalion to die in combat in Iraq since deploying in January.

His father, Michael Daul, told a Michigan newspaper that his son will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

A memorial for Daul has been scheduled for Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. in the Ray Barracks chapel in Friedberg.

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