thedrifter
02-04-06, 08:52 AM
Suburban Marine is killed in Fallujah
By Ted Gregory
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 4, 2006
Sean Cardelli's family found a photograph of him the other day, taken when he was 6. He had earned a ribbon for a picture he'd drawn at his elementary school in Berwyn, and somebody snapped a photo of him holding it.
"I wish I could be in the Army," the writing on the drawing stated, "and fight to save the world. You get to use helicopters and helmets."
Cardelli, 20, a U.S. Marine private first class from Downers Grove, was killed by small arms fire Wednesday afternoon while patrolling in Fallujah, Iraq, a Marines spokesman said. He'd enlisted in the Marines in May and had been serving in Iraq less than a month.
"He loved to draw," said Cardelli's sister Roxane Pasquinelli. "He was a great singer and dancer. He would be like, What's your favorite song? and we would say it, and he'd just start singing it."
Born in Hinsdale Hospital and raised in Berwyn, Cardelli was the youngest of three children. His family moved to Downers Grove his freshman year, and Cardelli enrolled in Lisle High School.
"What I'd always heard about Sean was how much the teachers liked having him in class," said Lisle High School principal Ron Logeman, who led a moment of silence during school announcements Friday morning.
Cardelli was on the school wrestling team his junior and senior years and had a reputation for teamwork and versatility, wrestling in different weight classes, Logeman said.
Cardelli also loved to cook and eat. He was particularly fond of his grandmother's mostaccioli and chicken cacciatore. His friend Joe Torres of Berwyn said Cardelli liked anything spicy, particularly chorizo and tamales.
"Instead of going out and getting something to eat," Torres said, "he'd go in the fridge and say, We can make something. My mom would wake up at 1 in the morning and see Sean cooking something over her stove."
After graduating from Lisle in 2004, Cardelli considered pursuing a career in the culinary arts, friends and relatives said. His father, John, encouraged him to enroll in classes before making a final decision about the military, and Cardelli studied at the College of DuPage.
But his dream to serve in the military prevailed, fed in part by his admiration for his grandfather Aldo Cardelli, who had served as a Flying Tiger in World War II.
"We were so proud of him," Pasquinelli said of her younger brother's enlistment. "It was something he wanted to do all his life. ... When he was in the Marines, he was happy."
"He had the greatest smile," Pasquinelli said, her voice breaking, "and the strongest hug, and we have that stuff. So, we're going to remember that."
tgregory@tribune.com
Ellie
Rest In Peace
By Ted Gregory
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 4, 2006
Sean Cardelli's family found a photograph of him the other day, taken when he was 6. He had earned a ribbon for a picture he'd drawn at his elementary school in Berwyn, and somebody snapped a photo of him holding it.
"I wish I could be in the Army," the writing on the drawing stated, "and fight to save the world. You get to use helicopters and helmets."
Cardelli, 20, a U.S. Marine private first class from Downers Grove, was killed by small arms fire Wednesday afternoon while patrolling in Fallujah, Iraq, a Marines spokesman said. He'd enlisted in the Marines in May and had been serving in Iraq less than a month.
"He loved to draw," said Cardelli's sister Roxane Pasquinelli. "He was a great singer and dancer. He would be like, What's your favorite song? and we would say it, and he'd just start singing it."
Born in Hinsdale Hospital and raised in Berwyn, Cardelli was the youngest of three children. His family moved to Downers Grove his freshman year, and Cardelli enrolled in Lisle High School.
"What I'd always heard about Sean was how much the teachers liked having him in class," said Lisle High School principal Ron Logeman, who led a moment of silence during school announcements Friday morning.
Cardelli was on the school wrestling team his junior and senior years and had a reputation for teamwork and versatility, wrestling in different weight classes, Logeman said.
Cardelli also loved to cook and eat. He was particularly fond of his grandmother's mostaccioli and chicken cacciatore. His friend Joe Torres of Berwyn said Cardelli liked anything spicy, particularly chorizo and tamales.
"Instead of going out and getting something to eat," Torres said, "he'd go in the fridge and say, We can make something. My mom would wake up at 1 in the morning and see Sean cooking something over her stove."
After graduating from Lisle in 2004, Cardelli considered pursuing a career in the culinary arts, friends and relatives said. His father, John, encouraged him to enroll in classes before making a final decision about the military, and Cardelli studied at the College of DuPage.
But his dream to serve in the military prevailed, fed in part by his admiration for his grandfather Aldo Cardelli, who had served as a Flying Tiger in World War II.
"We were so proud of him," Pasquinelli said of her younger brother's enlistment. "It was something he wanted to do all his life. ... When he was in the Marines, he was happy."
"He had the greatest smile," Pasquinelli said, her voice breaking, "and the strongest hug, and we have that stuff. So, we're going to remember that."
tgregory@tribune.com
Ellie
Rest In Peace