America buried another fallen hero Monday morning as friends and family attended the funeral and burial for U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Peter Andrew “Drew” McKenna Jr., 35, who was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, August 7.

A large group of local news media stood across the street from St. Mary of the Bay Church in Warren while a phalanx of military, police and fire officials ushered friends and family into the church.

The church quickly filled up with mourners. Downstairs, an overflow room was opened with metal folding chairs and a screen set up on a small stage to display the funeral ceremony with muffled audio coming from two small speakers on the wall. Civilians sat arm to arm with mourners in uniform ranging from military to police and fire officials.

The St. Mary of the Bay Choir sang “Amazing Grace.” In his opening remarks, Father Doug Grant acknowledged the 7th Special Forces Group of the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where Sgt. McKenna was assigned. He invoked the question no doubt on the minds of all who knew and loved the fallen soldier.

“Why did you leave us?”

Father Grant said Sgt. McKenna left this world because he was the soldier we needed, where we needed him, at the right time. He told mourners to accept that the world is not a fair place, but one occupied with evil. That’s why the world needs soldiers, he said, and why Sgt. McKenna’s funeral clogged the streets and packed the church.

“How many lives were saved,” Pastor Grant wondered, by Sgt. McKenna’s dedication and love of country?

The sentiment echoed the words of outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, who mentioned Sgt. McKenna during his final press briefing Wednesday at the Pentagon.

“This reminds us we have soldiers around the world doing dangerous things every single day,” he said.

The Army Times reports that Sgt. McKenna has been recommended for the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor, for his actions during a vicious and bloody attack in Kabul. Sgt. McKenna will also posthumously receive a Purple Heart.

During his 17-year career, Sgt. McKenna earned the Bronze Star Medal with V device for his actions on March 22, 2005, in Afghanistan. At the time, he was a staff sergeant serving as the senior communications sergeant on a Special Forces team. The citation accompanying the award said McKenna was recognized for his “professionalism and courage under intense enemy fire” during “a joint interagency mission that resulted in the death of senior Taliban commander Raz Mohammed Khanjari and four other enemy combatants.”

He also earned four Bronze Star medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Special Forces Tab, among several other decorations.

Sgt. McKenna is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year, and the second from combat operations. Spc. John Dawson, of the 101st Airborne Division, died April 8 in an attack in Jalalabad. Master Sgt. Pablo Ruiz, of 3rd Special Forces Group, died May 24 in a non-combat related incident.

Megan Cambra is a lifelong friend of Sgt. McKenna. A few years his senior, Ms. Cambra remembers spending holidays and birthdays together when they were kids, and she also remembers his older brother Patrick, who died in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago.

“I met Andrew when he was just a baby. We grew up together in the same neighborhood and our parents are best friends,” she said.

Ms. Cambra was at home when she got the call that her friend had been killed.

“I was just talking about his brother Patrick,” she said.

Like most friends and family, Ms. Cambra had just seen McKenna at Bristol’s Fourth of July Parade. She said Sgt. McKenna was anxious to return to his home in Florida, but his heart was always with his country.

“He loved the group of men and woman he befriended in the military and loved what he did protecting his country.”

Ms. Cambra is still in shock over losing her lifelong friend, but she believes he will be remembered for what he was  — a hero.

“He would want to be remembered as a hero because that's what he was to all of us. Even if you didn't know him.”

The funeral Mass for Sgt. McKenna was held at 11 a.m., and burial followed at St. Mary's Cemetery on Chestnut Street in Bristol. Hundreds of well-wishers lined Route 114 in Warren and Bristol as Sgt. McKenna’s remains made their final journey from the church in Warren to the cemetery. They waved flags, held signs and some stood at attention, in somber military salute, as each car passed. Thousands more attended his wake Sunday at St. Mary of the Bay.
Sgt. McKenna, the son of Peter A. and Carol A. (Fennell) McKenna of Bristol, was buried with full military honors next to his brother Patrick.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to 1SG P. Andrew McKenna, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, ℅ Citizens Bank, Bell Tower Plaza, 576 Metacom Ave., Bristol, RI 02809, or to the Wounded Veteran Retreat Program, P.O. Box 619, Parkton, NC 28371, or online at www.woundedveteranretreatprogram.com.  For online condolences, shared memories, information and directions go to www.sansonefuneralhome.com.

Photographs by David Hansen/Newport Daily News, for East Bay Newspapers