Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro, 19, of South Lyon, Mich.

LCpl Ciaramitaro was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died April 23, 2011 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations. Also killed was Sgt. Sean T. Callahan.

Lcpl Ciaramitaro was from South Lyon, Michigan. He graduated from South Lyon High School in 2009. He played football, and was a coaches' favorite because he'd "rally everybody to victory."

Ciaramitaro joined the Marine Corps right after graduation and deployed to Afghanistan in December of 2010, six months after boot camp. He was promoted to Lance Corporal on January 1, 2011.

Lcpl Ciaramitaro's father, John, himself the son of an Air Force veteran, stated his son left for Afghanistan in December. He called home on satellite phones that were patchy. Things were slow, he'd tell his father. It's winter.

Lcpl Ciaramitaro's grandmother says the 19-year-old Marine from Michigan loved adventure, and she told him his service in Afghanistan was the "greatest mission" of his life.

He died young -- but he died honorably, said associate pastor Thomas Griffin, a former Navy chaplain who also ministered to Marines.

"You could see it in his eyes -- he was a Marine, he had chosen his path," said his aunt Mary Sullivan. "Honor and duty became the driving force behind all that he did."


Lance Corporal Ciaramitaro's awards include the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Lcpl Ciaramitaro is survived by his mother Debbie Beaupre, his father John and step-mother Lynn, his siblings: Salvatore, Holly Anne, Lucy, Elizabeth, Grace; his grandparents Sam & Marie Ciaramitaro and Susan Boston.

Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro was killed in action on 4/23/11.