Tuesday, August 16 2005 @ 08:02 AM MDT
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 1,540
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 Chicago Tribune -- A top honors student and athlete from Waukegan High School who studied finance and military science in college was killed last week in Iraq when his Humvee hit a land mine, the Department of Defense announced Monday.
 First Lt. David L. Giaimo, 23, who entered the Army in December 2003 after graduating from Iowa State University in Ames, was killed Friday in Tikrit, the Defense Department said in a statement. Based in Ft. Stewart, Ga., Giaimo had been assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Relatives in Waukegan did not want to comment Monday but released a biography of Giaimo, painting a picture of a young man who excelled at school, athletics and the military.
"David was a born leader," family members said in the statement. "He earned respect and people naturally followed him."
Giaimo had been promoted last July from second lieutenant to first lieutenant after excellent evaluation reports following his completion of Officer Training School at Fort Knox, Ky., a year ago.
The family's statement quoted the report last November as saying: "David Giaimo has unlimited potential for success--promote immediately and continue [to] challenge him with tough leadership positions."
Giaimo attended Iowa State on a scholarship from the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, an organization he joined while a student at Waukegan High. He was a National Honor Society member and excelled at athletics, especially marksmanship. He was on the high school's rifle team for four years and its captain for two, during the last of which the school won a state championship, his family said.
A lifelong baseball fan who was an honorary batboy for the Chicago White Sox when he was 8, Giaimo was a shortstop and catcher on the high school's varsity baseball team.
"David always set out with high accomplishments along with a path for success," his family said.
Neighbors agreed that Giaimo, a former newspaper carrier for the Waukegan News Sun, stood out.
"The boy was a good kid," said Tom Neton, a neighbor who often talked to Giaimo's father, Thomas, about his son's military service. "He was always proud of his boy."
Besides his father, survivors include his mother and stepfather, Julie and Frank Derrig; a sister, Rebecca; and a brother, James.
Funeral arrangements were not available. |
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Sir, I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Willing And Able"(7th Inf. Motto)