Wednesday, November 11, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
Andrew John Babyak Jr. volunteered for the Army infantry so that his younger brother, Joe, wouldn’t be sent to fight.
It’s not something that Joe, of Boardman, likes to think much about. Andrew, whose nickname was Cheetah because of his speed in sports, was killed, burned during a firefight with hostile forces just a few months into his tour.
“We didn’t know anything about it,” Joe’s wife, Jean, said. “He did it on his own.”
Andrew, who had been a clerk, drove Jean four days to Washington state where he was to report, to visit his younger brother stationed there, who became a military policeman.
That’s when he told her. “He said, ‘Consider it your wedding present,’” Jean said.
There was only a year between the young men, and they were close.
Andrew Babyak, 21, a speciality 4th Class, was one of six Cardinal Mooney High School alumni killed during the Vietnam War who were honored Wednesday during a ceremony at the school.
Read more about the event and the vets in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.