Daily News

CRESTVIEW - Dede Faulkner isn't sure how she will make it through her son's viewing and burial Thursday.

Army Specialist Andrew Steven Faulkner died Friday, Jan. 1, in an accidental shooting. The DeFuniak Springs resident was 21.

Andrew and Dede were visiting family in Crestview when the accident occurred. Andrew was showing his family the Glock 40 caliber handgun he had just bought.

His aunt held the gun without the ammunition. Andrew placed the ammunition magazine into the gun so that his aunt could feel the difference in its weight, according to an offense report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

After the demonstration, Andrew had trouble removing the magazine.

He turned the muzzle of the gun while trying to remove it, and then the gun went off.

"(The bullet) just went right through his heart," Dede said. "I don't know if I will ever get that out of my mind."

Witnessing the tragedy has been hard on the family. The youngest, Andrew's cousin Sarah, is only 11.

After being unable to do anything to help her son that night, Dede said she considered ending her nursing career.

Andrew was a paratrooper with C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

He was on leave after returning from a yearlong deployment in Iraq November 10.

"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family of Spc. Faulkner," said Maj. Brian J. Fickel, spokesperson for the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. "It is always a tragedy when we lose a soldier when they are deployed. But to lose a soldier when they are home from a deployment is even more tragic."

Dede disagreed. She was grateful for the time she spent with Andrew on this leave. She and husband, Mark, had spent a day shopping with Andrew. He insisted on buying his mom a sweater (which she will wear Thursday) and took his parents out to lunch.

Andrew will be buried at Barrancas National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Living Church of Niceville, P.O. Box 468, Niceville, FL 32578.

The church, which Andrew grew up in, is helping his aunt and cousins relocate so that they do not have to return to the scene of his tragic death.

At the viewing and burial, Dede will focus on Andrew's laugh and dead flowers she plans to display. Mark left a condolence bouquet in the family car overnight. When Dede saw that the flowers had died, she imagined her son's reaction. He would have mercilessly teased his dad.

"That was Andrew, always the prankster and the goofball. He just always had a smile on his face," she said. "He didn't know a stranger. He just loved to talk to anybody."

Andrew was close to his family. When he was unable to get time off for his sister's November wedding, Andrew drove 12 hours to attend the ceremony, then returned to Fort Bragg by 5:30 the next morning.

The soldiers he served with had become his family, too. Andrew told his mom there was nothing he wouldn't do for them.

She was reminded of that when she read a recent bank statement.

"He told me a buddy of his needed some money and Andrew lent him $2,000 and it left him with $13 in his bank. That was just Andrew," Dede said.

Andrew attended Rocky Bayou through third grade, then was home schooled through his ninth grade year.

Dede cherishes the years she home schooled her son. "I got to spend a lot more time with him," she said.

He graduated at the Walton Career Development Center in DeFuniak Springs in 2007 and entered the Army that year.

He conquered his fear of heights to become a paratrooper.

Andrew earned several commendations in his two years of service. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal (1OLC), the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Parachutist Badge and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.

His family calls him "little American hero," which will be written on his tombstone.

Read more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/iraq-24460-accidental-isn.html#ixzz1zg0TXZ43


Andrew was a paratrooper with C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

He was on leave after returning from a yearlong deployment in Iraq November 10.

He conquered his fear of heights to become a paratrooper.

Andrew earned several commendations in his two years of service. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal (1OLC), the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Parachutist Badge and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.