Army Spc. Andrew R. Weiss

Died May 3, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Lafayette, Ind.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 3 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

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Soldier from West Lafayette killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A soldier from West Lafayette has been killed in Iraq.

Army Spc. Andrew R. Weiss, 28, died May 3 in Baghdad after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, military officials said. He was one of four soldiers in the vehicle.

Weiss was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, said his mother, Judith Weiss of West Lafayette.

“He thought that the cavalry was right for him. He was an excellent soldier, quite the hero,” she said.

Judith Weiss said she last saw her son in August. Andrew Weiss attended West Lafayette High School and Vincennes University and enlisted in the Army just before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He re-enlisted this year.

“He was a building construction major and jobs weren’t too hot,” his mother said.

Weiss and his wife, Margaret, have two children ages 3 and 1. The family lives near Fort Hood.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

In all, 81 people from Indiana have died after being sent to the Middle East since the buildup for the invasion of Iraq began in 2003.