Army Spc. Brushaun X. Anderson

Died January 1, 2010 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

20, of Columbus, Ga.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Jan. 1 in Baghdad of wounds sustained from a non-combat-related incident.

---

‘I cannot think of Brushaun without smiling’

The Associated Press

Back in middle school, Brushaun Anderson could often be found in the computer lab with a few of his buddies — a curious student building Web sites and working on other technology projects.

“I cannot think of Brushaun without smiling,” Dee Ann Barlow, one of Anderson’s teachers at Marshall Middle School in Columbus, Ga., wrote in an online message board. “He was so energetic and loved to learn. As a soldier he became a hero.”

Anderson, 20, of Columbus died Jan. 1 in Baghdad in a noncombat incident. The military is investigating. The soldier, assigned to Fort Drum, N.Y., enlisted in the Army in 2007 after graduating from Carver High School.

One of Anderson’s technology pals, Ricardo Toro, wrote in an online message board the technology club the two founded at their middle continues going strong to this day.

“He and I shared our rivalries from time to time but it didn’t make us any less of what we were, friends to the end,” Toro said.

Anderson is survived by his parents; eight brothers and a sister; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.