Spc. Jacob Andrews who died of suicide to receive long-sought combat recognition

GI who died of suicide to receive long-sought combat recognition
By JENNIFER HLAD
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 10, 2012

Former Army Spc. Jacob Andrews in a photo taken during his deployment to Afghanistan during 2009. Andrews committed suicide in April 2011 shortly after he was kicked out of the Army amid a confluence of mental health issues and behavioral problems.
COURTESY OF LAURI TURNER

WASHINGTON — Spc. Jacob Andrews was the only soldier in his platoon who wasn’t awarded the combat infantryman badge, though his unit mates insisted he earned it.

Now, two years after Andrews was discharged from the Army and more than a year after he committed suicide, his family will finally be able to pin the treasured CIB on his Class A service uniform — thanks to the perseverance of an Army officer who never met him.

Andrews suffered a traumatic brain injury during his 2009 deployment to Afghanistan and struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned, though neither was diagnosed until he was discharged in Sept. 2010 after a string of alcohol-related incidents and arguments with his superiors. He hanged himself with a climbing rope in the woods near his childhood home seven months later. He was 22.

His girlfriend, Ashley Mercante, gave birth to his son, whom they call Baby Jake, on Oct. 31, 2011.

Friends and family members contend that the Army, rather than ushering Andrews out of the service, should have seen that his behavior was caused by the unseen wounds he brought home from Afghanistan.
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