Fighting for freedom

Baghdad. April 1, 2004. Three soldiers and an interpreter are in a Humvee on the way back to base. After a successful mission is complete, one soldier thinks it is just the standard drive back to base. But on this night, that is not the case.

The road is quiet, when suddenly …

Two RPGs are fired.

Only one hits.

It flies in through the left side.

Frantically the driver pulls behind a brick wall, half a block ahead. “I’m hit! I’m hit!” the driver screams.

The soldier jumps out and starts treating the wounded.

Another soldier had fallen out of the vehicle; once the soldier realizes this, he starts sprinting back to get him. No one died, but the memory stays with the soldier to this day.

This soldier is social studies teacher Charles Andrews. On Sept. 16, 1996 he joined the army, but this wasn’t just a last minute decision.

“I’ve known I was gonna join probably since about ten,” Andrews said. “I just felt like the country needs to be served, and if you are capable of doing something to give back then you should do it.”

Raised in rural Oklahoma, Andrews was quite the adventurer. After spending most of his time outdoors, it soon became a love of his. With deep seated patriotism running through him, he felt it was his duty. It’s now 19 years later and he still feels the same way.

He plays the role of a long-time soldier, father and high school teacher. At 6:15 he’s up to get his two kids ready for the day, drops them off, and then walks through the doors of LHS at 7:30 every morning.

“I love being here, I love the kids here, I love the faculty here,” Andrews said. “But here’s the big thing for me; everyday of my life when my head hits the pillow at night, I traded a day of my existence for that day. So whatever I did that day, it better be worth it.”

Every day he strives to make a difference in someone’s life, big or small. He wants to make an impact, whether it be for his students, his children, family or friends. Last summer he took a couple hundred pounds of school supplies provided by LHS families to an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage is supported by Hope for Haitian Children Foundation, and it works towards providing education and bright futures for all kids. Even on Sept. 11, 2001, Andrews was still trying to make a difference.

“I turned [the TV] on and thought golly that’s a lot of smoke,” Andrews said. “I saw the second plane and you could tell it was an airliner, and at that point I knew it was terrorism.”

Once the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center, Andrews soon set out on a pre-planned mission to Egypt. He returned in December, and in January he became one of the first people on the ground in Afghanistan. After all of his hard work and dedication, Andrews is now a Sergeant First Class in the Army, otherwise known as an E7.

“Know yourself and seek self improvement,” Andrews said. “That works for everyone in and out of the military. Know yourself, know your strengths, know your weaknesses and then constantly seek self improvement.”

Andrews follows this motto every day along with many other long time soldiers, including assistant principal Eric Lindsey and senior naval science instructor Bobby Stuart.

“I think our military veterans bring a myriad of important qualities to the classroom,” Lindsey said. “Vets bring with them dedication, maturity, commitment, varied experiences and leadership/management skills.”

These soldiers never gave up and continue to be teachers striving to be better in the classroom.  

They have persevered through tortuous workouts, seen things most will never see, and yet still push themselves to new heights.

“Never tell yourself no; if you don’t attempt something or if you don’t ask, the answer is automatically no and you decide the answer is no,” Stuart said. “You would be surprised at how often you accomplish or how often the answer is actually yes where you would have put an end to it right there by telling yourself no.”