When the planes hit the twin towers on September 11, 2001, Tyler Vargas-Andrews was just three years old.
He couldn’t have known it then, but the events of that day and the subsequent decades-long war which followed would shape his life in profound and lasting ways — far more than the average American or even most veterans.
Vargas-Andrews, 27, was a 23-year-old U.S. Marine sergeant when he became one of the last U.S. casualties of the nearly 20 year war in Afghanistan. And on Thursday, he was honored by Massachusetts Fallen Heroes with their 2025 Daniel H. Petithory Award, named for the first soldier from the Bay State to die during the war.
The first and the last
Sgt. 1st Class Petithory was killed by friendly fire in early December of 2001, and was among the very first casualties of Operation Enduring Freedom. The bomb that took Petithory and two other U.S. service members also injured the future President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
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At the time, Vargas Andrews was a toddler and too young to know his country was at war.
Even though he didn’t come from a military family, Vargas-Andrews said that he knew he wanted to serve his country from a young age. He went to Vanden High School, a Fairfield, California, a district also attended by the children of service members stationed at nearby Travis Air Force Base, until the 10th grade.
It was there, he told the Herald, that he saw what service meant, with “one if not both” of his friends’ parents deployed repeatedly as the Global War on Terror entered a second decade.
With the conflict building through his entire childhood, the desire to serve eventually became impossible to ignore.
“I chose a path where I could do the most good for others — I felt called to serve — and I’m grateful to say I did it,” he said.
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He enlisted in the Marine Corps in August of 2017 and eventually was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, known as “the Professionals.” He was a rifleman, like all Marines, but also a sniper.
According to Congressional records describing his service, he was a “professionally instructed gunmen and radio operator for his sniper team.” According to Vargas-Andrews, he spent his enlistment doing what all Marines try to do in “chasing the legacy of those who came before us.”
It was “almost four years to the day” after his enlistment, he told the Herald, when he was assigned the task of helping to evacuate U.S. personnel, assets, and allies from Afghanistan at Hamid Karzai International Airport, named for the now-former President injured nearly 20 years earlier on the day Petithory died.
Records show he and his team “aided in the evacuation and processing of over 200 United States Nationals at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan and were the primary Ground Reconnaissance and Observation asset throughout Evacuation Operations at Abbey Gate.”
As the evacuation was underway on August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the Abbey Gate. Vargas-Andrews was among the dozens of U.S. troops caught in the blast, which claimed the lives of 13 service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians.
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Vargas-Andrews was severely injured. He lost his right arm and left leg, and needed 49 surgeries. He spent months in recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
He wasn’t done there, though.
Vargas-Andrews has spent the time since he was medically retired from military service attempting to help his fellow veterans learn to live with their own wounds, and heal where they can. He’s testified before Congress, become a fitness advocate, and has run in marathons across the country.
Coming full circle
Choosing Vargas-Andrews to receive the Daniel H. Petithory Award this year, according to Dan Magoon, the executive director at Massachusetts Fallen Heroes, was a “no-brainer.”
“Tyler is an amazing, resilient warrior,” Magoon told the Herald. Vargas-Andrews, Magoon said, has dedicated his life post-service to his “brother and sister veterans and gold-star families.”
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“And he’s used his experience and the tragedy that he lived through to share that message of resiliency. He has a motto: ‘you are never a victim.’ The way he carries himself and does more for others makes him — not only an exceptional Marine — but an unbelievable human being,” he said.
Vargas-Andrews, in speaking with the Herald ahead of Thursday’s award presentation, was remarkably positive considering his tragic circumstances. It’s not always easy, he explained when asked how he manages to keep his spirits up, but continuing to serve helps a great deal.
“I owe it to my friends who died to try to be happy and live a good life,” he said. “The Marine Corps has shaped me into the man that I am today and it’s given me the people I love most in my life.”
Former US Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews speaks at the Mass. Fallen Heroes Memorial Rededication on Saturday. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, is greeted by 99-year-old Mildred Cox, a WWII stenographer, during the The 12TH Wounded Vet Run, in 2023. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald, File)
When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) denied voters the ability to support a popular tax cut this November, it was more than a temporary loss for residents of one of America’s most overtaxed states. Barely a generation removed from its “Taxachusetts” moniker, the Commonwealth’s competitiveness suffered a setback with long-lasting implications.
That is why even if this battle is over, the broader fight must go on.
Recent polling from the Mass Opportunity Alliance (MOA), a nonprofit advocating for state competitiveness, found that 82% of voters supported lowering the state income tax rate from 5% to 4%. Even a poll from the Boston Globe/Suffolk University released days before the SJC decision showed 66% supporting the tax cut.
Terrified by the threat to the status quo, entrenched special interests spearheaded a legal challenge not based on the merits of the tax cut or fiscal policy whatsoever. The issue was a technicality in summary of the question written by the Attorney General. As a retired SJC justice explained, “neither logic nor law” supported removing the tax cut from the ballot.
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The Court’s ruling does not change the underlying issue. The same Suffolk survey showed a majority (54%) of respondents had considered leaving the state in the last year. Nearly six in ten cited taxes and high cost of living.
This trend is well underway. Following the Commonwealth’s last tax hike in 2022, roughly 30,000 more people exited Massachusetts than arrived the following year — one of the country’s highest population exoduses. The outflow took $4.2 billion dollars’ worth of taxable income with them.
It’s no mystery as to why we’re losing residents. Survey research from MOA showed high taxes were a key driver. Not coincidentally, the top two states welcoming Massachusetts expatriates, Florida and New Hampshire, both have no income tax.
By contrast, Massachusetts has the second highest effective tax rate in the country. The Commonwealth is ranked in the bottom 10 for competitiveness.
The impact of this tax burden extends far and wide. Businesses are choosing to leave or relocate elsewhere. Iconic brands like Cape Cod Potato Chips have had enough, announcing the closing of their Hyannis facility earlier this year. Even international soccer players are not safe, learning that 90 minutes of participation in this year’s World Cup can subject them to crushing Beacon Hill tax policies.
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Massachusetts is not alone in the blue state exodus. Frustrated by high taxes, endless regulation and overall unaffordability, families and businesses are fleeing California, Illinois and New York for friendlier terrain.
What are the consequences of fewer residents? For starters, less people to tax. Smaller tax bases means less resources for schools, roads and public safety – investments that tax hike advocates typically claim to care about.
Smaller populations also mean less national influence. In 2010, the congressional delegation shrank from 10 to 9 members, and only narrowly avoided losing another member in 2020. It’s anyone’s guess what the end of this decade will bring, but current trends are not encouraging.
So what’s next?
Fortunately, a second common sense tax proposal remains on track for the ballot this fall. By reforming the state tax revenue limit, the initiative would put the brakes on spendthrift politicians and return money to the taxpayers who earned it.
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To be clear, the court’s ruling does not excuse the role of the legislators. Their constituents were denied the right to make their voices heard. As their elected representatives, members of the Massachusetts legislature should be fighting for families struggling with high taxes and some of the highest costs in the nation.
“Affordability” cannot just be a political buzz word; it must be a governing principle.
Two hundred fifty years ago, Massachusetts started a revolution against an oppressive government that led to the founding of our nation. That spirit lives on today, and so does the need for change. That starts by continuing the fight for common sense tax relief by every available avenue to keep the Commonwealth competitive for the next 250 years and beyond.
Colin Reed is a senior advisor to the Mass Opportunity Alliance
BOSTON (WHDH) – Just over one week after Massachusetts lawmakers announced a new, statewide initiative to combat wrong-way driving and improve roadway safety, law enforcement responded to another deadly wrong-way crash in Northboro Wednesday night.
With all of the recent tragedies, including the death of Massachusetts State Police trooper Kevin Trainor in Lynnfield last month, officials said they have pinpointed 100 locations to put on the priority list to make important safety changes as quickly as possible.
The $75-million detection and prevention program includes advanced detection technology, enhanced roadway signage, infrastructure improvements, and targeted safety upgrades across Massachusetts.
“They’ve been demonstrated to work in other places where they’ve been implemented, and even in Massachusetts the ones that are already in place, there is plenty of documented evidence showing people realizing they’re going the wrong way when those systems are activated,” said Mark Schieldrop of Triple A.
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In Barnstable, those changes have already been implemented along Route 6. State Representative Steven Xiarhos said the area can be tricky to navigate.
“Lots of moving parts, a college right down the road, and someone could make the wrong move when they’re confused, and that’s one of those interactions that could be confusing,” Xiarhos said.
Schieldrop said there are many reasons for wrong-way driving, but one stands out above the rest.
“When we look at the typical wrong-way driver who’s causing these crashes, by and large alcohol impairment is a factor in the vast majority of them,” Schieldrop said.
Xiarhos said the prorgam is worth every penny if it will save lives.
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“It’s frustrating when a horrible thing happens, you can’t turn back the clock,” he said. “So as an elected offical now, as a former police officer, let’s do everything we can to prevent this.”
The safety installations around the state will continue into 2027.
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