'True hero' was committed to service

Marine Lance Corporal Andrew Zabierek told his father that his favorite part about being in Iraq was visiting with Iraqi children, showing them pictures of his family, and telling them about life in America.

"When he spoke to his father on the phone and through e-mail, he'd tell him how he really felt that our presence in Iraq was needed and that we are really helping there," US Representative Martin T. Meehan said yesterday after speaking with the soldier's family in Chelmsford.

Zabierek, who was two weeks shy of his 26th birthday, died Friday night in the Al Anbar province, just south of Baghdad, when he was hit by a car believed to be driven by an Iraqi, Meehan said. The incident is under investigation.

"I think we lost a true hero," said Meehan, a Democrat from Lowell. "Corporal Zabierek gave his life in service to his country, and the entire community is just devastated."

Zabierek's family asked that Meehan speak on their behalf.

Deployed to Iraq on March 4, Zabierek served as an infantryman in the Second Marine Division, Second Battalion, Meehan said.

After graduating from Chelmsford High School, Zabierek earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Clemson University, and worked at American Express Financial Advisors in Waltham.

Though Zabierek could have enlisted as an officer, he chose to join the Marines as an enlisted soldier shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, Meehan said.

"His father said [Andrew] felt that in order to be a leader, you had to understand what it was like to do the grunt work," Meehan said, "and he just wanted to be a person who was on the front lines shoulder to shoulder with everyone else so he could provide better leadership, which really demonstrates the kind of person he was."

Zabierek comes from a long line of military service for which his family is known throughout the community, Meehan said. His grandfather served in World War II, his father served four years in the Navy, and Meehan nominated Zabierek's 24-year-old brother, Mark, to the US Air Force Academy. He is serving as an intelligence officer at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas.

"This is a family that is really committed to their country and to service," Meehan said. "It's obviously extremely difficult, and, as I said, the community is just devastated. It's painful."

An American flag in honor of Zabierek flew over the US Capitol building this past weekend, and Meehan expects to present it to the family tomorrow.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Martha Bartle can be reached at mbartle@globe.com.