Student serves in Iraq before enrolling at Hillsdale
Katherine Timpf
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Focus
Senior Kathryn "Andy" Anderson has a decoration up in her room at Pi Beta Phi few women probably keep in their sorority house - a framed black list of soldiers fallen in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Anderson looks at the list whenever she has the nightmares she sometimes experiences after serving in the war.
"I go, 'Hey, I was given one more day,'" Anderson said. "I've lost a total of three soldiers that I've trained and four that I knew. The list makes me remember that no matter how bad any nightmare is, I still get to wake up."
Anderson joined the military at age 17 on the Valentine's Day after September 11th.
"I only thought it appropriate since my heart was so called to the service," Anderson said.
Anderson said her best friend from high school, Marcie Purke, joined around the same time. Purke said they were a crucial support system for each other throughout their service.
"It was nice to have such a good friend to go through it with," Purke said. "There was a point where she and I were the only people that she and I understood, and we really depended on each other. Especially when she got deployed, there was a little while where she told me that I was the only one who understood what she was talking about, that was really special for me."
Since joining, Anderson has had moments few people will ever encounter. She has shot and killed enemies. She has had enemy bullets whizzing past her face, an experience her and fellow soldiers called the "whisper of God." She has served as a drill sergeant, and has helped control fellow soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
After winning Soldier of the Year in Nevada, Anderson got the opportunity to serve as a drill sergeant from Feb. 2007-2008. At 23 years old, she was placed in charge of others much older than she was, such as 37-year-old men with families who had given their whole lives to the army. At first, Anderson said the men sometimes treated her in a way which "defined attitude," and that she had to work to earn their respect.
Anderson looks at the list whenever she has the nightmares she sometimes experiences after serving in the war.
"I go, 'Hey, I was given one more day,'" Anderson said. "I've lost a total of three soldiers that I've trained and four that I knew. The list makes me remember that no matter how bad any nightmare is, I still get to wake up."
Anderson joined the military at age 17 on the Valentine's Day after September 11th.
"I only thought it appropriate since my heart was so called to the service," Anderson said.
Anderson said her best friend from high school, Marcie Purke, joined around the same time. Purke said they were a crucial support system for each other throughout their service.
"It was nice to have such a good friend to go through it with," Purke said. "There was a point where she and I were the only people that she and I understood, and we really depended on each other. Especially when she got deployed, there was a little while where she told me that I was the only one who understood what she was talking about, that was really special for me."
Since joining, Anderson has had moments few people will ever encounter. She has shot and killed enemies. She has had enemy bullets whizzing past her face, an experience her and fellow soldiers called the "whisper of God." She has served as a drill sergeant, and has helped control fellow soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
After winning Soldier of the Year in Nevada, Anderson got the opportunity to serve as a drill sergeant from Feb. 2007-2008. At 23 years old, she was placed in charge of others much older than she was, such as 37-year-old men with families who had given their whole lives to the army. At first, Anderson said the men sometimes treated her in a way which "defined attitude," and that she had to work to earn their respect.
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