Hometown: Whitehouse, OH
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: C Company, 983rd Engineer Battalion
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Purple Heart (2)
Date of Sacrifice: May 8, 2005 - KIA in Samarra, Iraq
Age: 24
Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011

Gary A. Eckert, Jr., “Andy” to family and friends, grew up in Whitehouse, Ohio—a suburb of Toledo. He graduated from Anthony Wayne High School in Whitehouse in 2000.

After high school, Eckert joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2001 and studied education history at Owens Community College in nearby Perrysburg, Ohio. Living near the Michigan-Ohio border, Eckert was a huge fan of the Michigan Wolverines but often joined his friends in cheering on the arch-rival Buckeyes from The Ohio State University.

Eckert was trained as a carpentry and masonry specialist with the 983rd Engineer Battalion U.S. Army Reserve in Monclova, Ohio. The 983rd supported reconstruction efforts—building roads, runways, and buildings in Iraqi cities.

He completed his Basic Training at Fort Leonard Wood in the Missouri Ozarks, and his Advanced Individual Training at Gulfport, Mississippi.

On February 24, 2003, Eckert was called to active duty and cross-transferred to the 244th Engineer Battalion out of Fort Carson, Colorado. Four days later, he and his girlfriend Tiffany (Miramontes) were married in Toledo. Their time together was short, as Eckert left for Fort Carson just six days after the wedding, on March 6.

After training at Fort Carson, the 244th spent three months of training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana, and the unit was sent to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During his first deployment, the Eckerts welcomed a daughter, Marlee Freedom Eckert, to the family. According to Tiffany, their daughter’s middle name was originally going to be “Grace,” but was changed so she would know that her father was fighting for other people’s freedom. Sgt. Eckert would not meet his new daughter until she was 11 months old.

While in Iraq, Eckert was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in multiple places by shrapnel from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). He returned home in April of 2004. Some of the shrapnel was removed, but Eckert was declared non-deployable by the Army.

Then, as he was preparing for surgery to remove more shrapnel, he received word that his original unit—the 983rd Battalion—was activated in the early fall of 2004. Eckert signed a waiver, volunteering to return to Iraq with his fellow soldiers.

During his second deployment to Iraq, Sgt. Eckert and his wife were expecting a second child. Having missed the birth of his daughter, Eckert was able to fly home when another soldier gave up his own leave to allow Eckert to be with his family. He made it home the night before his son, Myles, was born. The family of four was together for 14 days before Sgt. Eckert had to return to Iraq.

On May 8, 2005, Sgt. Eckert was positioned as a gunner in the back of a convoy traveling from Tikrit to Samarra. A roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee and Sgt. Eckert died of his wounds later that day. He was 24 years old.

Brigadier General Michael Beasley commented on Eckert’s second deployment to Iraq: “Andy didn’t have to go back to war. He came back [from his first deployment] a Purple Heart recipient…He wanted to go back to serve our nation, with our soldiers.” For his courage in defending his country, Sgt. Eckert was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal a second Purple Heart.

Eight years later, young Myles Eckert caught the attention of the nation. In a story reported by CBS News, Myles found a $20 bill in a Toledo restaurant parking lot. Dreaming about what he could buy with it, Myles changed his mind when he saw a soldier inside the restaurant.

Myles wrapped the $20 in a note that read, “Dear Soldier – my dad was a soldier. He’s in heaven now. I found this 20 dollars in the parking lot when we got here. We like to pay it forward in my family. It’s your lucky day! Thank you for your service. Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.”

Sources
Details and card photo submitted by Ms. Tiffany Eckert—Sgt. Eckert’s Gold Star Wife
Family information provided by Folds of Honor Foundation
Toledo Blade, May 10, 2005: Sylvania sergeant killed in Iraq blast
Travis Manion Foundation: Gary Eckert
U.S. Congressional Record, Volume 152 (2006), Part 18: Honoring our Armed Forces
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service: Soldier receives Ohio Military Medal of Distinction
Sentinel Tribune (Bowling Green, Ohio), 12 May 2005: Sgt. Eckert, Penta grad, died while serving in Iraq
The Journal News (Hamilton, Ohio), December 22, 2005: Gary “Andy” Eckert Jr.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation: Gary Andrew Eckert Jr.
Together We Served: SGT Gary Eckert, Jr.
Points of Light: Eckert Family
Burial Site: Find a Grave