Master Sergeant Andrew Christian “Andy” Marckesano was born on October 22, 1986, in Phoenix, Arizona. He grew up in San Luis Obispo, California, and graduated from San Luis Obispo High School in 2004. He joined the Army as an infantryman in 2005.
Andy was assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he rose from rifleman to squad leader and deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2009. The 2009 deployment took the battalion into Afghanistan’s Arghandab Valley, then one of the most dangerous places in the war, and the unit suffered some of the heaviest casualties of any battalion in the conflict. His fellow paratroopers knew him as “Captain America.” In 2011 he was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, with the 75th Ranger Regiment, and he deployed again to Afghanistan in 2013. He earned the Ranger Tab and completed the Ranger Indoctrination Program, the Small Unit Ranger Tactics Course and the high-risk Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course.
In 2013 Andy attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection. He graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2015 as a Special Forces weapons sergeant and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He deployed to Afghanistan as senior weapons sergeant of Operational Detachment Alpha 7223 in 2016 and to Colombia in 2017. All told he served six combat tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division, the Ranger Regiment and the 7th Special Forces Group. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action. His other decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Valorous Unit Award, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with five campaign stars, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Special Forces Tab, the Parachutist Badge and the Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge.
Big, burly and tattooed, Andy could look intimidating to strangers. “Once you had a conversation with him, though, you’d realize he was a big teddy bear,” his wife, Erin, an active-duty soldier herself, remembered. “He was so concerned about everyone else. He was loyal to a fault.” He had an infectious personality, loved his family and friends and was always joking with his guys.
In the summer of 2020 Andy moved to Washington, D.C., to begin a coveted assignment at the Pentagon. On July 7, 2020, days after arriving, he lost his battle with post-traumatic stress. He was 33 years old and still on active duty. Friends said the Arghandab deployment was one he never truly put behind him. His death shook the Special Forces community, and the Green Beret Foundation established a mental health fund in his name to ensure that Green Berets and their families have access to mental health care. “Andy wasn’t the only one,” Erin said. “He was just the only one that day.” She hopes his story will give others a reason to pause, breathe and keep fighting.
Andy is survived by his wife, Erin; his children, Riley, Andrew and Madeline; his father, Patrick; his mother, Kathryn; and his sister, Michele.
Andrew had a total of six deployments with the 82nd Airborne Division, 75th Ranger Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), earning the Silver Star for heroism under fire.
7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Sources
- Family-provided records on file with MVF: Andrew Marckesano bio
- We Are The Mighty: The legacy of Andy Marckesano, a Green Beret with a giant heart (Dec. 2020)
- Green Beret Foundation: MSG Andrew Marckesano memorial fund
