On July 4, 2015, First Sgt. P. Andrew McKenna stood on a platform in front of the Colt School, his eyes shielded in dark sunglasses, and accepted an award from the Bristol Fourth of July Committee. Sgt. McKenna, home on leave from his base in Kabul, Afghanistan, was honored that morning for traveling the farthest distance to recognize America’s independence in Bristol, R.I.

He and others spent that day the way many Bristol families spend the Fourth — eating, drinking, laughing and watching the nation’s proudest July 4 parade.

A month later, Sgt. McKenna was dead.

This Sunday, the post office directly across the street from that Fourth of July stage will be dedicated in Sgt. McKenna’s honor, in a ceremony expected to attract local, state and U.S. dignitaries. Joining them will be Sgt. McKenna’s family and friends, who remember one of the toughest, smartest and most accomplished soldiers you could ever meet — a soldier who earned the title of “hero.”

In the early morning of Aug. 7, 2015, on the other side of the world, insurgents detonated a vehicle bomb and breached the Camp Integrity wall. First Sgt. McKenna, a Green Beret and already decorated veteran of six tours overseas, led a team charged with defending and securing the base.

When the attack happened, Sgt. McKenna and others rushed to engage four insurgents who were pushing into the camp wearing suicide explosive vests. Sgt. McKenna was shot twice and died from his injuries, but the insurgents never advanced, and they took no more lives. Sgt. McKenna is given credit for saving potentially hundreds of lives that day.

Captain Jophiel Philips, 27th SOW/JA, fought alongside Sgt. McKenna during the attack on Camp Integrity. He recounted his experiences in the Nov. 2015 issue of the Operational Law Quarterly, stating: “I was the closest person to the insurgents. [Army] 1st Sgt. Peter Andrew McKenna, Jr., a green beret, sprinted toward me, firing on the insurgents, stopping them from advancing and detonating their suicide vests. After Sgt. McKenna was hit a second time, [Army] Master Sgt. George Vera stepped up to head-off the insurgents and was shot himself.”

Sgt. McKenna was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, as well as a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest decoration for valor, for his actions that day. Over his 17-year military career and six deployments, he earned more than a dozen awards, including a Bronze Star with V for valor, for his courage and professionalism under intense enemy fire during a 2005 operation in Afghanistan.

After graduating from Mt. Hope High School in 1998, Andrew McKenna immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army and began serving in the 10th Mountain Division as an infantryman. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2002 and was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion 7th SFG (Airborne).

He is the the son of Peter and Carol McKenna, and was preceded in death by his older brother, Patrick McKenna.

The ceremony to officially dedicate the First Sergeant P. Andrew McKenna Jr. Post Office begins at 1:30 p.m. That block of Hope Street is expected to be closed for the duration of the ceremony.