NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 1047-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2006
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Captain Mark C. Paine, 32, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, died October 15, 2006, in Taji, Iraq, from injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.Paine was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Today in Moraga, California, former classmates and friends of Captain Mark Paine mourned his violent death this week in Iraq.
Thirty-two-year-old Captain Mark Paine died earlier this week when improvised explosives detonated his humvee in northern Iraq. It was his third tour of duty there and he was scheduled to leave for good this December.
Captain Paine graduated from Campolindo High School in 1993 and went on to West Point. Teachers and friends remembered him.
Burton Benton, friend of Paine’s: “He’s just a consummate leader, charismatic. Just a strong individual. A true believer. He prayed for his men everyday.”
Thirty-two-year-old Mark Paine’s life will be celebrated this weekend in Moraga. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
A Rancho Cucamonga, California, man was one of 70 soldiers killed during October in Iraq, putting this month on track to be the deadliest for U.S. forces since the siege of Fallujah nearly two years ago.
Captain Mark C. Paine, 32, of Rancho Cucamonga, was killed Sunday night in Taji, Iraq, about 20 miles north of Baghdad.
He sustained injuries after an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, and he died at about 10:45 p.m., officials at Fort Hood in Texas said.
Paine entered the Army in June 1997. During his military career, Paine was awarded the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal and other medals, including those for service in Kosovo and Korea.
He had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood since March 2005 as an infantry officer.
In December 2005, Paine was deployed to Iraq, officials said.
Soldier Killed in Iraq Leaves Legacy of Fearlessness
Captain’s Death Ripples Through Calif. Home Town
By Arianne Aryanpur
Courtesy ofthe Washington Post
Saturday, November 4, 2006
A strong, cold breeze blew through Arlington National Cemetery yesterday as family and friends of Army Captain Mark C. Paine gathered to remember the fallen soldier from Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Paine, 32, died October 15, 2006, from injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Taji, Iraq.
A marching band and horse-drawn caisson led the procession to gravesite No. 8434, Section 60, where rows of white headstones bear the names of service members killed in Iraq. Paine is the 271st person killed fighting in the war to be interred at Arlington.
He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas.
Mourners shielded their eyes from the bright autumn sun as a firing party released a three-volley salute and a bugler played taps. Paine’s older brother, Brandon, watched as his parents, Kairyn and Roger, accepted folded U.S. flags from a Major General.
Last month, Paine’s high school friends and teachers gathered in California to remember his infectious laugh and warm personality.
“He was a natural magnet for people and absolutely sincere. There was no guile,” said Tom Ehrhorn, his high school principal. “He was just someone you wanted to be around. He had a very disarming way of making people feel like the most important person in the world at that moment, and people just warmed to him immediately.”
Joining the military was a family tradition, friends said, and Paine entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after graduating from Campolindo High School in Moraga, California, in 1993.
His 13-year military career took him to South Korea, Yugoslavia and Kosovo, and he was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Barry Hearne, who served with Paine during his first deployment to Iraq in 2003, said that Paine will be remembered as a highly proficient infantry officer who was frequently called upon by his brigade commander to complete tasks.
“To characterize him as anything other than great would be wrong. . . . It is a loss to our nation to lose him as a leader,” Hearne said.
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Thompson, a commander who served with Paine in Iraq, left similar condolences in an online memory book.
“He was fearless and always in the thick of it with his men,” Thompson wrote. “His legacy of bravery and professionalism lives on in his soldiers here in Iraq.”
Paine frequently visited his home town, and he ran into Ehrhorn during a visit in 2000. He spoke enthusiastically about his work and his future with the military, Ehrhorn said.
“From all that he said to me, it exceeded his expectations. My impression was that he was absolutely certain that he had made the right choice,” Ehrhorn said.
Ehrhorn said that Paine’s death has had a profound effect on the Northern California community where he was raised. “We’re feeling a great sense of loss, because there was so much more he could have given. He made a difference,” Ehrhorn said.
Ehrhorn said that Paine was a devoted Christian, and members of his former congregation came out in large numbers to attend a recent church service to show their appreciation of his sacrifice.
“It’s sad to lose someone who was so wonderful,” he said.
NOTE: The photos show his mother, Kairyn, and his brother, Brandon. They do not show his father, Roger, who was standing nearby, but was not photographed at all. So, the dark haired young man standing between a grey haired lady dressed in black, and a blond haired younger woman, is Mark’s brother, Brandon. The younger woman is Brandon’s wife, Jill. The grey haired lady in the maroon dress, to the far right in the photos is Mark’s grandmother and Kairyn’s mother, Joy Grosclos
PAINE, MARK CHRISTOHER
- CPT US ARMY
- DATE OF BIRTH: 06/26/1974
- DATE OF DEATH: 10/15/2006
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8434
- ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
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Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard