Plaque Dedication Ceremony Honors Hero

Warrior. Hero. Healer.

That's how Bonnie Lobosco, mother of U.S. Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Andrew Lobosco, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009, would describe her son.

"I love that phrase," she said, wrapped in a prayer shawl, as she and Lobosco's father, Robert, waited near the SSgt. Andrew T. Lobosco Memorial Bridge in Bridgewater for the start of a plaque dedication ceremony for her son Thursday.

Andrew Lobosco lived in Bridgewater and attended Immaculata High School. The pedestrian bridge that now bears his name links the school in Somerville with Bridgewater Commons Mall, a gentle arch spanning busy Route 22, a quiet wood and a small stream.

A plaque dedicated to the memory of Andrew Lobosco stands like a silent sentinel near each end of the bridge.

As a member of the Army's elite Special Forces, sometimes referred to as Green Berets, Lobosco was a warrior of the highest caliber, his family said. But he was also a highly trained Special Forces Medic and a humanitarian.

"His fellow soldiers said he would have been the next surgeon general," Robert Lobosco said. "His ultimate goal would have been to be a doctor at Walter Reed Hospital, and take care of the men and women in uniform coming home from war."

Robert Lobosco smiled and pointed to the tie he was wearing, a bold composition of stars and stripes in red, white and blue.

"This was Andy's," he said. At Immaculata, his son was required to wear a tie and this one was a favorite of the young man's, he added. 

Andrew Lobosco graduated from the school in 1998, and joined the Army after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Robert Lobosco described the terror attacks as "a deciding moment for Andy," who later chose a career with the Green Berets, which are considered one of the toughest units in the United States military.

Lobosco served two combat tours in Afghanistan, and also served in Haiti, Belize and places he was not allowed to discuss even with his parents.

"Lots of times we didn't know where he was," Bonnie Lobosco said.

While on dismounted patrol near Yakhchal, Afghanistan on Aug. 22, 2009, Lobosco was killed in action. The date for the plaque dedication ceremony, Sept. 9, was selected to be close to Sept. 11, a date of deep meaning to Lobosco and his unit.

Sept. 9 was also the date Lobosco was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Before his death, Lobosco had worked with his dad and the local Knights of Columbus to collect more than 2,000 donated crutches in the United States to be distributed in Afghanistan. Lobosco was killed around the same time the crutches arrived there.

"He was an inspiration to the community," said Bridgewater Township Councilman Daniel Hayes, who attended the ceremony along with other local and county dignitaries, and friends and family of Lobosco's. "Students of Immaculata can use a few moments to reflect on his life and what he stood for, and perhaps it will inspire them."