Grandparents Remember Homestead Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
Edward "Bernard" Smith a "warrior, a true soldier"
By AMARA SOHN and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 8:41 AM EST, Tue, Sep 29, 2009
The grandparents of a Homestead soldier killed in Afghanistan last week remembered their grandson as a brave warrior who fought on despite his concerns over his situation.
Sgt. Edward "Bernard" Smith loved his country and after several tours in Iraq, was deployed in June to the front lines of Afghanistan, with the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the 2nd Infantry Division.
"I had the fear that something might went wrong, and he also had the same fear," grandmother Annette Parrish said yesterday. "He just had talked to his sister wednesday, and he was telling her how bad it was over there, and he was afraid."
Smith's fears were realized just a day later, on Thursday, Sept. 24, after he and two fellow soldiers were killed while driving in a vehicle hit by an improvised explosive device.
Annette, 66, and her husband Edward, 75, fought back tears as they told Bernard's story, from a premature, 2-pound baby to husband and determined defender of freedom.
"You could never find another Bernard," said Annette, who raised Smith and his seven siblings. "I have to stay strong for rest of my family, stay strong."
"How I would like somebody to remember him? That he was a warrior, a true soldier," Edward said.
As the war in Iraq rages on, and top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, seeks to add more troops, Annette had some advice as a relative of one who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"Pray about it and think about it, put himself in these parents' place," she said.
As for Bernard, Annette said all she has now are cherished memories.
"Every chance he got he came home and now we know that he won't come home," she said.
First Published: Sep 29, 2009 6:53 AM EST
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