Pfc. Andrew Keller, 22, of Beaverton killed in Afghanistan
»Play Video
BEAVERTON, Ore. – A local soldier from Beaverton has died in combat in Afghanistan, according to his father who spoke with KATU News on Thursday.
Pfc. Andrew Keller, 22, had just been deployed about a month ago, according to family friends.
"He is a true hero - a true hero," said Keenan Jones, one of Keller's friends. "We've lost one of the greatest people I've ever known."
According to the Department of Defense, Keller was killed when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire Aug. 15 in Charkh, which is about 50 miles south of Kabul.
He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy.
Keller was a standout member of the Southridge High School’s football team, a team captain and a multi-sport varsity athlete.
His father, Jeff Keller, was manager of the Murrayhill Little League team that went to the Little League World Series in 2006. His younger brother, Derek Keller, was a member of that Little League team. The following statement was posted on the team's website:
The Murrayhill community was saddened to hear the news that Murrayhill family member Pfc. Andrew Keller died in combat in Afghanistan this week. Andrew was a standout athlete in the community as well as teams at Southridge High School. Andrew was a huge supporter of Murrayhill baseball. Our thoughts go out to Coach Jeff Keller and the entire Keller Family.
Andrew Keller had planned to marry his girlfriend when he returned home. His aunt sent the following statement to KATU from the family:
"Andrew is a wonderful human being who deeply cared about his fellow soldiers, his family, and the ones he loved. Thank you for honoring this amazing man." - Sharon Dudley
Wow. Just deployed. Condolences to the family and friends of Andrew Keller. We are all honored by his service.
Â
Â
I didn't know Andrew Keller but I am great full for his service. My condolences to his family and girl friend. My thoughts and prays are with you all. God BlessÂ
Jeff, Kim, Derek: We are deeply saddened by your loss. We will miss seeing Andrew out throwing the football and playing. Andrew will forever be honored for his service and sacrafices to his country. We are so proud of him. God bless him and your family.
With a son (Southridge H.S., 2009) about to graduate Marine Corps bootcamp in 2 weeks, this hits home with me. Condolences to the Keller family...
Though I read katu.com every day this is the first time I've commented. Only one question: why is this story not the headline? I live in Vancouver and couldn't care less about the thug driving around town with his girlfriend and some guns. Rest in peace Andrew Keller, and thank you for giving your life for your country. My heart broke when I heard your story.
Andrew Keller: A great person, great inspiration, great son, great brother, great boyfriend, great human and a true HERO. Â Thank you 1,000+ times for being in my sisters life. Â I'm so grateful for knowing such an outstanding man. Â May you never be forgotten. Â
Â
Â
Dear Keller family, I am so sorry for your loss. I didn't know Andrew personally, but do remember him from the days I was the volunteer coordinator for Southridge football when my son played. All I can say is I'm so sorry for your loss, I can not even imagine how you feel. Stand proud is all I can say, your son took on a role that he knew was important and maybe his last. It's young men and women like him who protect our way of life and are willing to give it all. I'm proud to say I live in the neighborhood where a hero grew up!
we salute your service
RIP Pfc Keller! Your watch is done, thank you to you and your family.
All gave some, some gave all
I have watched all of these kids grow up in our neighborhood and am truly heartbroken for the Keller family. May the comfort of your family and friends help you in this time of need.Â
My heartfelt condolences to the Keller family for your loss. He sounds like a son, brother, friend, who made his family very proud. Thank you for your sacrifice, your service, and your honor. Rest in Peace, Pfc. Keller
I am so saddened by your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with the whole Keller Family today. Jeff, I am so sorry for your loss. You gave him an amazing life, you were an amazing Dad to him. my heart goes out to you. I grieve with you and your family.
Â
Bryan Brezic
Pfc. Keller, thank you for your service and sacrifice. May your family and friends find comfort in their time of sorrow.
RIP Andrew! my heart goes to the Keller Family and i am sorry for your loss, Andrew was an amzing person,not only was he a HERO, he was a person that could make anyone laugh or smile,  and he will be missed! Everyone please be respectful in your posts. God Bless our soldiers!
Â
May God bring comfort to you and your family. Thank you.
RIP PFC Keller. I wish we could replace our great soldiers with our worthless politicians. We would be out of these ridiculous wars in a minute if those cowards had to step foot in a danger zone.Â
Just so Starbucks & McDonalds can open-up shops over there.......
@August100 Take your sarcasm to another post, we are honoring a hero here, not airing our political agendas. Your comment is disrespectful to the family of this brave young man. You should be ashamed.
As one of his heart broken aunts, I appreciate you standing up and telling these disrespectful people to go away. We don't care what your personal opinion of the war is. We lost an amazing young man who was proud to be called a US soldier. Let us grieve in peace and grace.
 @August100 And so clowns like you can make insensitive comments while his family is still grieving his passing.  I would venture to guess he has done more for humanity in his short 22 years on this earth than you will achieve in your whole miserable life.Â
So sad. Another young hero has sacrificed his life in the name of freedom. My prayers and condolences go out to his family and friends. God be with you as you deal with his loss. I firmly believe he is in the loving arms of our Lord and has been welcomed into Gods' heavenly kingdom. Amen
Everyone seems to want to make this a political debate , why how, when, where.. Ok, so the truth about Afghanastan is we're there for the pharmaceutical companies, see this region is full of poppy... We need the poppy for morphine , so we lose American men for that reason, just like we lost American men to obtain oil from Iraq,, We have no other business in these countries what so ever.. As for the local man, I am sincerely sorry to his family..
Â
RIP sir, your brothers wlll stand your watch.
God bless those that stand between the innocent and the evil.
I as so sorry for your loss.. I can't imagine the pain this has caused.. All I can say is remember the good times, I am sure there were many..
So very sad. Condolences to this warriors family.
Â
I hate to make this political, but where and the hell is the left-wing media and war protesters? Since Obama took over they seemed to have lost their voice. I guess it's okay for our brave men and women to die when we have a "D" in the white house.
Â
How can our country remain free if the press doesn't do their job. Why should our soldiers fight to keep this country free if the press won't do its part to keep the government honest?
Â
 @Scotty9 Scotty, Since this is one or our own, I don't think this is the format for politics... Let's just say so sorry to the family ok ?
 @dougrpdx I would love to, but where else can you address it? When Bush was in the White House the media and the Left threw this in our face on a daily basis. The sad truth is that war is political by nature.
@Scotty9 start your own blog. Or Facebook. Or street corner. I really don't care. Just stay away from the tribute to my nephew!!! You have no concept of what our family is going thru right now and will for the rest of our lives.
Enough is enough, this is a muslim country that could care less about the Christian way of life, democracy, or the western way of life. Let them kill one another without the loss of another US, Canadian, British etc. troop. When they are done destroying themselves then we move in and make it a parking lot.
I agree with the first part of your statement but not the last. To pull out now, though, would be a slap in the face to all those who have died to make Afghanistan free from terror. The last sentence about the parking lot was uncalled for.
@Bdou So let's see here you think that we should stay there because our citizens have died there, well how about those that will die in the future while Karzi and others steal billions of our tax dollars.The US must get out of the mind set that we are the worlds policeman while demanding they become a democratic govt......How about we toss in yellow parking space paint, would that make you feel better?
Dead at 22. Over what?
So sad that we send young kids off to fight foreign wars before they've had a chance to really live, have a family, etc.
Grace and peace to the family.
I love you Andrew - you will be truly missed - Rest in Peace my dear sweet hanai son <3
Sempre Fi!
 @jallard As in Semper Fi ? Sempre is Italian and is a musical reference.
 @seriously2Â
Â
Just so you know:
Â
"The Marine Corps adopted Semper Fidelis as its official motto in 1883 (Semper Fidelis is also the title of the official musical March of the Marine Corps). Translated from Latin, Semper Fidelis means "Always Faithful." U.S. Marines use an abbreviated verbal version, "Semper Fi," to voice loyalty and commitment to their Marine comrades-in-arms. Previous mottos of the Marine Corps were (1) To the Shores of Tripoli, adopted in 1805; (2) Fortitude, adopted in 1812; (3) From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli, adopted in 1848; and (4) By Sea and by Land, adopted in the 1850's."
Rest in peace Andrew. Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice so that we, as Americans, can enjoy the peace and freedoms that we have. Godspeed Andrew! Godspeed!
I am sure Andrew would of said something like this... "To my Country, for whom I served I hope for those who did not know me, Enjoy your freedom for which you deserve, But please remember my family who paid for your freedom, they paid the ultimate price".......This is what a Hero is folks! ...we have our sports Hero's that make millions....but these Hero's gave everything to make millions free!...... As of today 6,568 Mothers have cried...over the loss of their sons and daughters in Operation Iraqi Freedom , Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn .....I just hope and pray soon the Tears will stop,
Amen.
My condolences to you and your family. The loss of a fellow warrior brother is a tremendous loss. We mourn with a heavy heart and pray for him and your family in this difficult time.
I will. And I'll pray for all those brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice.