Dominic Rocco Baragona

West Point, 1982

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Michael Robert Patterson on June 15, 2003:

BARAGONA, LTC. DOMINIC "ROCKY" (Age 42) Died May 19, 2003 when a tractor-trailer collided with his humvee near Saffraw, Iraq. Rocky was born June 14, 1960 in Niles, OH and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1978. He was recruited by West Point and graduated in 1982. He served his country with pride and honor for 21 years and was the Battalion Commander for the 19th Maintenance Battalion based in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He is the highest-ranking military officer to have died in Iraq. He is survived by his parents, Dominic and Vilma Baragona of St. Geroge Island, Florida and five brothers and sisters, Tony Baragona of Pensacola, Florida, John Baragona of Tempe, Arizona, David Baragona of Phoenix, Arizona, Pamela Baragona of Dublin, Ohio and Susan Gunn of Eastpoint, Florida. He is also survived by nine nieces and nephews and four grand-nieces and nephews. Rocky was preceded in death by a brother, Christopher, in 1974. Services will be held June 18 at 11 a.m. at Arlington Funeral Home, 3901 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, Virginia, followed by a burial service with Full Military Honors at 1 p.m. at Arlington National Cemetery. A reception will be held at 3 p.m. at The Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington for friends and family. ----------------------------------------------------------------- On May 18, Army Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Rocco Baragona, 42, was in a convoy heading for Kuwait City to load his battalion's gear on ships. Then the soldiers were to fly home to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Baragona found time to e-mail his father, Dominic, in St. George Island, Florida. "Dad, a couple of bullets whizzed by our heads, but we're now 60 miles south of Baghdad and we're home free," he wrote. Minutes later in a conversation by satellite phone, he confirmed to his father that he was USA-bound. "So I asked him, 'Rock, what's the worst thing that can happen now?' " his father says. "And he said, 'Dad, something stupid can happen.'" The next day, near Safwan, a tractor-trailer in the convoy jackknifed and smashed Baragona's Humvee. He became the highest-ranking U.S. officer to die in Iraq. "For me to fix blame, it wouldn't be fair," his father says. "The only thing I'd kind of like to say is that ... I hope all these things they're lookin' for, these weapons of mass destruction and other things, I hope they find them. ... Then I will feel in my heart that the ultimate sacrifice that he made has some kind of justification." __________________________________________________________________ A commander of the 19th Maintenance Battalion at Fort Sill was killed in Iraq Tuesday after a tractor-trailer jackknifed on a road and collided with his vehicle, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday. Lieutenant Colonel Dominic R. Baragona, 42, of Ohio, died in the accident. He was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom March 16 with about 100 other soldiers from 19th Maintenance Battalion and attached to Army and Army Reserve units, a press release said. Baragona was a 1982 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Branch. He arrived at Fort Sill in July 2002, officials said. A memorial service is being planned to honor Baragona. The accident is under investigation. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/dbaragona.htm

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