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Vet’s Name May Grace Streetcorner

by Nicole Allan | Nov 30, 2007 12:46 pm

(2) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: The Hill

IMG_0194%5B1%5D A streetcorner in the Hill may soon be named after Army Specialist Andre Craig Jr., the first New Haven soldier to be killed in combat in Iraq — after fleeing city streets he thought would kill him..

His mother, sisters, god-brother, niece, and baby daughter came out in full force Thursday night to convince aldermen that such a street corner would inspire Hill residents who had looked up to Craig. They made their pitch to the Municipal Services Committee, which voted in their favor. The matter now goes before the full Board of Aldermen.

Craig’s mother (pictured) said that her son had always wanted to serve in the military. “Andre said, ‘If I stay in these streets, I’m gonna die in these streets, so I want to go in the army,’” she recalled.

After Craig’s death last June, she was shocked by the number of letters and phone calls she received from people telling her of all the ways her son inspired them. “I know he will never be forgotten,” she said.

Before he was killed by an explosive device in Baghdad, Craig visited home and met his then-newborn daughter, Taylor. If the corner of Rosette and Wilson Streets were named after Craig, his mother said, Taylor could “go back and look at it and say, ‘My father was a hero.’”

“His daughter’s been testifying all along,” Alderwoman Dolores Colon said of Taylor, who babbled happily while her grandmother cried.

Valencia Cook, Craig’s sister, described her brother as a role model for young people in the Hill who don’t want to give in to drugs, violence, and the other temptations of street life. “Some of those gentlemen in that neighborhood could stand on that street corner, and he could be an inspiration in spirit,” she said.

THe committee’s aldermen repeatedly expressed compassion for the Craig family and admiration for their son’s accomplishments.

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posted by: John Lynch on November 30, 2007  4:53pm

Prior to graduating from Wilbur Cross High School and joining the military, Andre Craig was a mentor and tutor to young males through his involvement with Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP) program.  He has given much to his community and family and sadly, is no longer with us.  I hope that his short life can become a motivator for New Haven youth to see the purpose in serving their community for the greater good.

John Lynch
Former Site Coordinator at LEAP

posted by: Chris Gray on December 3, 2007  1:48am

L.E.A.P. is an organization I have always admired, never failing to smile when I frequently passed the old headquarters on Park St., especially when it was filled with bright, happy young minds.  I always wondered at the security that kept all those computers from theft.

Andre Craig will be well remembered.  Had he lived, he could have contributed great things to society. 

Robert Bennet, likewise could have contributed great things to society.  He died in the streets Andre feared.

This violence must stop.  L.E.A.P. is a good model, let us replicate it, until we reach alll of our children.

It worked for Andre.  His life has meant something to all of us.

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