Dowagiac natives connect in Kuwait

 

Pictured from left March 15 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, are Lt. Col. Averill Ruiz, Lt. Col. Tracy Andrews and Sgt. 1st Class Steven Horner. Not shown: Maj. Gregory Lundeberg.

Pictured from left March 15 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, are Lt. Col. Averill Ruiz, Lt. Col. Tracy Andrews and Sgt. 1st Class Steven Horner. Not shown: Maj. Gregory Lundeberg.

Three former Dowagiac residents are stationed in Kuwait.

A fourth recently passed through on his way back to the United States from Jordan.

Lt. Col. Averill Ruiz, whose father, Arnold Ruiz Sr., lives in Dowagiac, graduated from Union High School in 1988. Assigned to the Third Army U.S. Army Central, he has been deployed to Kuwait since December 2012.

Lt. Col. Tracy Andrews lived in Dowagiac from 1970 to 1986. Deployed to Kuwait since October 2012, she is assigned to the 38th Sustainment Brigade from Kokomo, Ind.

Sgt. 1st Class Steven Horner, a 1987 DUHS graduate, is assigned to the Third Army U.S. Army Central. He deployed to Jordan from Oct. 12 until March 13. His father, Michael Horner, lives in Baldwin.

Maj. Gregory Lundeberg lived in Dowagiac from 1963 to 1967. His father, Jeffrey Lundeberg, and uncle, Max Campbell, live in Dowagiac.

His grandmother, Leontine Lundeberg, taught English at Central Middle School. She resided in Dowagiac until she died in 2005.

Lundeberg was deployed to Kuwait in October 2012. He is also assigned to the 38th Sustainment Brigade from Kokomo.

“I had never met Tracy,” Ruiz said. “I sat near her in the chow hall one day and asked where she was from. Otherwise, I would have never known she was from Dowagiac.”

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