Sgt Dominic Sacco
"Dom" or "Nick", "Nicky" if you knew him as long as I did. He was just like one of my own little brothers. Irritating, threatening and the butt of many jokes. He is my very best friend for life's younger brother. He spent so many years trying to figure out what he should do in his life, finally he had found a solution for a little bit. He joined the Army and we all chuckled a bit when we found out what capacity he was serving in, he was in tanks, blowing stuff up. His 8 year old self would have been soo proud! He served his country proudly. He really enjoyed what he did. His memorial pages are full of stories from fellow soldiers whose lives he touched.
As a younger boy he did all those things boys do, played baseball and basket ball. Played video games, rode bikes, and would on occasion, play nice with us, until he got mad. And he loved the Mets. He had a passing phase in which he thought Michael Jackson was sooo cool. But we won't talk about that out of respect.
All of a sudden, one day, he was a man. Helping my sister and I move, giving advice on men, all those things brothers do. I have 2 sisters and think of his sister as my 3rd, i have 2 younger brothers and think of him as the 3rd. That is how great they are.
He was unable to attend his sisters wedding because he was out of the country on a tour. His dad joked that he would be safe because he was in tanks. Ironiclly, he was shot by a sniper while closing the hatch, on Nov 20, 2005. Nick left behind a wife, a step daughter and a son who was not yet 6 months old, his mom and dad, his sister, and an extended group of family and friends who were fortunate enough to have had him in our lives. He was 6 days shy of his 33rd birthday.
I mourned for Nick, it seemed unreal. I mourned for his mom, I can't imagine her pain. I mourned for his son, who will only have stories of his dad in his life. Tears are forming now, but I smile when I think of how to close this tribute. I smile when I think, at least he died doing what he wanted...and I smile because you can't think of Nick without smiling.
www.some-gave-all.com
1 comment:
This was a very touching post. A very special tribute to the friend that you have lost. My husband is in the army, and my heart breaks a little more with every story I hear like this one.
What a nice ending, too, to this post. I don't know if I could have put my feelings into words so well.
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