The Patriot-News - PennLive.com -- BY LARA BRENCKLE lbrenckle@patriot-news.com

To those who knew and loved him, Sgt. Andrew H. McConnell was the consummate soldier, strong of faith and deeply committed to his wife, his soon-to-be-born child and his country.

McConnell's death Monday from a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan reverberated around the world, from Carlisle, where his father graduated from the U.S. Army War College and where his sisters excelled on the soccer field, to his friends.

McConnell, 24, was based in Ft. Lewis, Wash., with the 5th Stryker Brigade. The Seattle Times reported that he enlisted in 2005 and had been based at Ft. Lewis since 2007. The brigade's deployment in July was his first.

He married his wife, Sarah, in December. She is five months pregnant.

His death brought to six the number of soldiers with midstate connections who have died in Afghanistan --four of them since July.

Another 5th Stryker Brigade soldier, 1st Lt. David T. Wright, 26, of Moore, Okla., was killed with McConnell.

McConnell's father, Col. Scott McConnell, was stationed at the Carlisle Barracks and was a member of the Army War College's Class of 2006, said Carol Kerr, a barracks spokeswoman.

Following graduation from the war college, the elder McConnell and some family members, including Andrew's sisters Ashlee and Alecia, stayed in Carlisle while he served a year as director of Army operations at the college's Center for Strategic Leadership.

McConnell's sister, Ashlee, graduated from Carlisle High School in 2005. She was captain of the girls' soccer team. She and Alecia now play for the Longwood University women's soccer team in Virginia, where Ashlee is again captain.

Scott McConnell was deployed to Iraq and is stationed in Germany.

Lt. Gen. David Huntoon, a former war college commandant, was among those who met Andrew McConnell's casket when it arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday, Kerr said.

Jerry Comello, a retired colonel who teaches at the war college, had McConnell's father in class.

"Unfortunately, I did not know his son," Comello said. "I just knew the family. It was one of the more remarkable families that I've ever seen."

On Wednesday, a group remembering McConnell was started on Facebook.

It had 209 members as of Wednesday night.

Michael Kaminsky, a member of the group, wrote that he first met McConnell in JROTC class in Vicenza, Italy, where the family had been stationed during the elder McConnell's career.

"You taught me a lot about every aspect of life," he said. "You can lay down your ruck now, your march is done and you made us all proud. Thank you for the memories. From one soldier to another, you are my brother in arms."

Another poster recalled the fun she had with McConnell during an "alternative spring break" in the Czech Republic, where a group built a playground and shared their faith with the children there.

Al Sones, pastor of Good News Church in Mechanicsburg, knew of the family through his own daughters, who attend Liberty University with another of Andrew's sisters, Amanda.

He said he expressed his condolences on the Facebook page because, as a father and a minister, he has deepest sympathy for the family's loss.

McConnell's death also was announced on the Web site for his church, Mars Hill Church, in Olympia, Wash.

"We ask that, as a community, Mars Hill Church honor Andrew by rallying around his wife and unborn child. We can do that through prayer, service, and generosity," the posting said.