On his way to war, Lincolnite says he always wanted to be a soldier
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BY CINDY LANGE-KUBICK / Lincoln Journal Star
Stephen Austria has been cruising in his Mustang GT.
He’s been hanging with friends. Eating barbeque with his family. Catching up with his favorite professors from ROTC.
Swing dancing at the Pla-Mor.
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Thursday, he’ll fly to Washington and Fort Lewis Army base.
And on March 30, the Lincoln boy — Fredstrom, Goodrich, Lincoln High, UNL — will turn 25.
Two days later, he’ll board another plane.
And then 2nd Lt. Stephen Austria — trained in the art of blowing up bombs and saving lives — will land in Iraq.
How long has he been getting ready for that day?
“I’m an Army brat. I grew up in the Army. I’ve been wanting to do this as long as I can remember.”
The combat engineer and platoon leader has black hair and dark eyes. He weighs 190 pounds and stands 6 feet tall. He is part Filipino and part German, Danish and Swede.
He has white teeth and a soft voice.
He backpacks, climbs mountains, snowboards, scuba dives.
He made Eagle Scout. He was an academic all-state swimmer, linebacker, trapshooter, alto sax player in the marching and symphonic bands.
A self-described high school goody two shoes.
He was born on an Army base in Germany.
His maternal grandfather served in the military.
His paternal grandfather did too, first in the Philippine resistance army fighting the Japanese in World War II, and later as a member of the U.S. Navy.
Last May, when Austria graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in geology and a commission in the Army, his father, retired Maj. Duane Austria, and his mom, Jeri, pinned on his gold bars while his sister, Holly, looked on.
He grew up watching his dad. He saw honor and camaraderie in the military, and friendships with deep roots forged out of a shared loyalty.
His dad — his scoutmaster — taught him how to be a leader.
In college, Austria would head off to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, leading 30 high school boys into the wilderness.
When the boys and girls from his Venturing scout group grew into young men and women, one of them went to Afghanistan.
And another deployed to Iraq and came home.
One is still there.
A fourth was killed in action by a roadside bomb.
1st. Lt. Garrison Avery, a fellow Lincoln High grad, was his friend, Austria says.
Another buddy, an upperclassman from ROTC, Kevin Gaspers, died in Iraq two weeks before Austria graduated.
“My friends have been killed by what I’ll be looking for.”
Death disguised as a Gatorade bottle wrapped in duct tape. Or hiding beneath a pile of trash.
In Iraq, Austria and his men will drive armored mine-resistant vehicles, wear protective gear, be equipped with bomb-seeking robots.
“If I see one I’ll blow it up before it kills another soldier coming down the road behind me.”
That’s his job. His life for the next 15 months.
He will pack his video camera. His laptop, loaded with photos of family and friends. He will have access to e-mail and telephones.
His base will have a Burger King.
He’ll take his guitar and play bluegrass and country-western songs.
For the past month he’s been helping his men prepare for deployment. Wills, power-of-attorneys, financial matters.
Some of them are young men, just out of high school, others are married with wives and children.
The men are his family, too.
They are good men.
He is ready to lead them.
Let’s get it done, he tells them.
He can’t show fear. Not in his face, not in his voice.
They know the hazards of their chosen profession, he says.
“It’s my job. It’s what I want to do.”
He’s as prepared as he can possibly be. The morning runs, the weights, the pushups, the field training, the pep talks.
And next, a plane ride into a country five years into war.
“It’s like the first day of school. You don’t know what it’s going to be like until you get there.”
The young officer wants to get there.
Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.
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