Domingo Arroyo Jr. could not wait to join the Marine Corps.
So early in his senior year at Elizabeth High School, he enlisted as a "poolee" -- one of a small number of recruits who sign up before they are eligible to report to training camp.
While his classmates joined school clubs and teams, Mr. Arroyo, a chubby teenager with a round face, spent his senior year preparing for the Marines. He went to meetings on what to expect in the Marines. He jogged and did thousands of sit-ups and push-ups to prepare for basic training.
"From all reports, Pfc. Arroyo was a pretty hard-charging poolee," said Capt. T. W. Lyman, a spokesman for the First Marine Corps District, which supervises Marine recruiting centers in the Northeast. "He certainly made an incredible commitment."
On Jan. 12, Private First-Class Domingo Arroyo Jr., a veteran of the Persian Gulf war, was killed during an ambush on his 11-member patrol near the Mogadishu airport in Somalia. The 21-year-old private, who had about four months left before his discharge, was the first United States soldier killed in the effort to distribute food to the hungry in Somali
So early in his senior year at Elizabeth High School, he enlisted as a "poolee" -- one of a small number of recruits who sign up before they are eligible to report to training camp.
While his classmates joined school clubs and teams, Mr. Arroyo, a chubby teenager with a round face, spent his senior year preparing for the Marines. He went to meetings on what to expect in the Marines. He jogged and did thousands of sit-ups and push-ups to prepare for basic training.
"From all reports, Pfc. Arroyo was a pretty hard-charging poolee," said Capt. T. W. Lyman, a spokesman for the First Marine Corps District, which supervises Marine recruiting centers in the Northeast. "He certainly made an incredible commitment."
On Jan. 12, Private First-Class Domingo Arroyo Jr., a veteran of the Persian Gulf war, was killed during an ambush on his 11-member patrol near the Mogadishu airport in Somalia. The 21-year-old private, who had about four months left before his discharge, was the first United States soldier killed in the effort to distribute food to the hungry in Somali
New Jersey Run for the Fallen 2023 ~ Click photos below to enlarge...