ARLINGTON, Va. – The lives of those who knew Army Capt. Andrew Ross changed forever when he was killed in action while on his second deployment in Afghanistan last November.
A private ceremony was held for him in Glen Allen a few weeks ago, but he arrived at his final resting place Tuesday. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
View photos from Ross' service at Arlington
Ross is buried there with 400,000 other service members and their families.
After more than seven years of service in the Army and dozen of awards, Ross can now rest and be remembered as someone who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Capt. Richard Dickson met Drew in 2011 while the two were stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia.
“Drew had three priorities and those were faith, family and country. He died serving his country and serving those that he loved.”
And it was those three qualities that attracted people to Ross. People he knew from VMI and West Point wanted to show their respects at his military funeral.
Dickson wants people to remember Drew and what he was about. Years after they met they ended up in the same unit at Fort Bragg and talked a few weeks before his death.
“Just his commitment to everything. You knew right away with his charisma and his hard work he was going to do great things in the military and that he loved everyone. He would go above and beyond for anyone he knew. Didn’t matter if you were best friends or someone that he just met on the street,” said Dickson.
Three flags were presented to Ross’s family One to his widow and one for each of his parents. An Arlington Lady presented cards of condolence on behalf of the service chief.
Around 500 people came out for the military funeral for Ross. A public affairs officer told 10 News, she has attended more than a 1,000 funerals at the cemetery and this was one of the largest turnouts in attendance she's seen. Family and friends say it shows just how much he is loved.
Along with Ross, Army Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary, Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin were the other servicemen killed in the IED blast.
Rep. Ben Cline also attended today’s burial.