A Monumental Effort

By Kevin Armstrong

The Virginian-Pilot - May 27, 2007

Memorial Day comes far more than once a year for Rose Merry Tuazon.

The Western Branch mother finds reminders of her late soldier son's sacrifice every day, and by the time Monday's national holiday arrives, Tuazon already will have attended four remembrance services in the past week alone.

Army Pfc. Andrew L. Tuazon died May 10, 2004, while on patrol in Mosul, Iraq. The 21-year-old had arrived there only two months earlier as part of the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd MP Battalion, based at Fort Stewart, Ga. He was shot and killed by a sniper one day after Mother's Day.

That's what makes each May so much more difficult for Rose Merry Tuazon. Still, after three tortuous years, she remains grateful her "Andy" is not forgotten. On Thursday, she and her husband, Ron, traveled to Richmond by invitation of Attorney General Robert McDonnell. They attended a ceremonial unveiling of the Wall of Honor, "honoring Virginians who have died serving in the Global War on Terrorism."

Last Sunday, they drove to Washington for a "Time of Remembrance" to honor all soldiers killed in war.

The most permanent tribute to Andy, though, rests just a few blocks from Tuazon's home on Woodbaugh Drive.

Last Saturday, on Armed Forces Day, the Dunedin Civic League formally dedicated a memorial to its fallen hero.

A neighborhood remembers

The granite monument adorns the corner of Dunedin and Brandywine drives, in the "M. Anne Tregembo at Dunedin Park."

Tregembo's name is significant because she was the one, as Dunedin Civic League president, who wanted a memorial for Andy Tuazon. She and Rose Merry Tuazon appeared before City Council in December 2004 to get approval for the stone marker to be placed on city-owned land.

Council agreed, then the fundraising began, starting with jars placed at local businesses. In the meantime, Tregembo's failing health led her to step down as leader and former civic league president Pat Faircloth resumed that post in January 2005.

The civic league considered several designs and cost estimates, Faircloth said, before choosing a 2-by-2-foot marker. It cost about $1,200, she said.

The carved message reads, "This monument is dedicated to Pfc. Andrew L. Tuazon as a memorial to all veterans who were residents of Dunedin and gave their lives while serving our country."

Tregembo never saw her idea fulfilled. She died April 4, 2005. The civic league then sought and received the city's permission to name the Dunedin park in her memory.

Meanwhile, the Tuazon monument was finally installed at the end of last summer, but a dedication ceremony wasn't yet scheduled.

That's when resident Charlotte Scott got involved.

Although she had lived in Dunedin for 10 years, she didn't join the civic league until last November. She was elected corresponding secretary and volunteered to organize a dedication ceremony.

Neither Scott nor Rose Merry Tuazon knew then the strong friendship that would come from working together.

"My main objective was getting it done so Andy could rest in peace," Scott said.

Months of planning by Scott and others paid off last weekend in a one-hour ceremony attended by representatives of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars, Western Branch High School, the Dunedin Civic League and local businesses as well as friends, City Councilman John de Triquet and Andy's pastor, the Rev. William Russell of New Hope Baptist Church.

"He will always be a part of Dunedin's history," Scott said. "He can be held in high esteem with this monument being dedicated to him."

Signs of Andy All Around

While the neighborhood has done its part to keep alive Andy's memory, other signs abound nearby.

A laminated photo and copy of his obituary hang on the wall of Zero's Subs on Western Branch Boulevard, where Andy worked during high school. Rose Merry Tuazon said shop owner James Tabb told her "that will stay up there forever."

A few blocks away on Taylor Road, Bill Smith has a similar photo and news report about Andy hanging on the wall of the Fox Hall Learning Center he operates. Smith's sister, Jeannie Smith Bartlett, directs the Churchland Country Day School on the same property, and the preschoolers dedicated their May 18 spring festival in memory of Andy.

Bill Smith formerly worked as a substitute teacher at Western Branch High School and knew Andy from his class. Smith also knew him as one of the teens who lived in Dunedin and would cut through the Fox Hall property to get to the high school.

Smith, a Vietnam War veteran, recalled how he was restoring the 1900 farmhouse years ago and Andy would stop and ask if he could help.

"Andy helped us several times," Smith said. "He was funny, joking, cooperative."

Those sentiments are echoed by teachers at Western Branch High, where Andy graduated in 2001.

Eve Bell served as Andy's guidance counselor and recalls his sincerity. Too often, she said, teens say they want to help others but it's really meant to impress or pad a resume with service.

Bell said Andy's interest in others was genuine. Other teachers described him as the kind of guy who would stop on a dark and stormy night to help a stranger with a flat tire.

Even his military service was an extension of that.

"It didn't surprise me," Bell said, "that he was doing a second tour and that he was doing it voluntarily."

This year, Western Branch High School will award the third annual "Andrew Tuazon Fallen Soldier Memorial Scholarship" to a graduating senior. The $250 award was established in 2005 by the Foundation of Faith IV. The nonprofit group funds scholarships at local schools in memory of graduates killed in military service.

Andy's scholarship was the first of three to be set up by the group. The second was established last year at Atlantic Shores Christian School in memory of Tony Lutz, a Chesapeake resident killed Dec. 29, 2005, near Fallujah, Iraq.

A friend in death and life

Tuazon has come to appreciate Scott's friendship almost like a memorial to Andy itself.

"I'm blessed to be her friend," Tuazon said outside her home, which is decorated with dozens of flags and other patriotic mementoes.

Scott sometimes accompanies Tuazon on her daily visits to Andy's grave in a cemetery on Airline Boulevard.

"I think it's the most visited grave site in the cemetery," Scott said.

On May 10, the third anniversary of Andy's death, Scott called Tuazon to check on her.

"C'mon, let's go to lunch," Scott told her. They did.

Scott said over the last six months she has come to appreciate Tuazon's humor and said that's where Andy got it from.

"I see her smile a lot more now," Scott said. "She was spending all of her time being Andy's bereaved mother.

"She's now allowing other things to come into her life."