Pfc. Andrew D. Stevens, U.S. Army was killed in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in an Operation Iraqi Freedom training exercise on March 11, 2003. The soldier was 20. He knew from the time he was young, playing with toy Army men, that he wanted to be a soldier.

University of New Hampshire Army ROTC Commander Maj. J. “Stringer described Mr. Stevens as a skilled and dedicated young man who loved the army and loved his job,” Sophie Poele wrote in an article in the university’s student newspaper. “(He said) to join the military is to answer to a higher calling, he said. You put yourself in servitude of your country. We have to be grateful for these men’s courage, commitment, dedication, and honor.”

The Travis Manion Foundation honored Pfc. Stevens with five more local Fallen Heroes through our Character Does Matter program in February 2012 when we told their stories to inspire 600 sixth grade students from Cooperative Middle School in Stratham, N.H. To honor the legacies of their Fallen Heroes, students completed 2,294 hours of service, and held a Memorial Day ceremony for veterans and families of the fallen.