Monday, Sept. 18, 2006

Stern scholarship ceremony held

By Dee Grenert
Staff Writer

CULVER - Marine 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern laid down his life for the United States .

Lt. Stern, a 1998 Culver Military Academy graduate, died Sept. 16, 2004 from injuries sustained in fighting near Fallujah , Iraq .

In the gut-wrenching haze of uncertainty following the lieutenant's death, his father Richard said two things were crystal clear.

First, he and his wife Eileen wanted their son buried beside his fellow fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery .

Second, the family vowed to remember the 24-year-old Lt. Stern, a four-year member and co-captain of Culver's crew team, through the rowing program he loved so much.

“Above all else, Andy loved to row and he loved the Marine Corps,” his father told a group gathered in front of the Academies' Legion Memorial Building for Marine 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern Award Day Saturday. “Rowing and the Corps were his passions.”

The Sterns' decision led to the creation of the 1st Lt. Andrew K. Stern Scholarship & Rowing Award. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded each year on or around Sept. 16 to a senior member - male or female - of the Academies' rowing squad who best demonstrates dedication, honesty, joyfulness, respect and integrity - all traits displayed by Lt. Stern.

A committee including Academies crew coach Guy Weaser and Culver Head of Schools John Buxton selected Niklas von Kuczkowski as the award's initial recipient.

The Hannover, Germany native, who won the men's singles sculls crown at the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championship Regatta this summer, accepted the honor at Saturday's ceremony.

While the service carried an appropriately solemn tone, Stern, with his wife standing to his right on the top step to the Legion Memorial Building , said his son “would have wanted to loosen it up a bit.”

“I can just hear him saying to the students standing here, ‘Good,'” Stern began. “He'd say, ‘You're probably thinking, “I have to listen to a bunch of old men speak on a Saturday morning. I'd rather be going to town, but I have to be here because some guy I've never heard of is giving an award. I had to do it. Now, it's your turn.''”

On a more serious note, Stern's father credited Culver for converting “a rambunctious, undisciplined kid” into the responsible leader who sacrificed himself for others.

“He really loved the Culver structure,” Lt. Stern's father said. “He thrived here.”

The scholarship isn't the only reminder of Lt. Stern's influence. Weaser explained that a new shell brought to the program two and a half years ago needed a name. It now bears Lt. Stern's name.

“I immediately thought of him,” Weaser commented. “Whenever I see the boat, I can still hear Andy's gruff voice always greeting me, ‘Hello, Mr. Weaser.' He was a great person.”