Army 1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski

Died November 19, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

23, of Freehold, N.J.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Nov. 19 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Bayji, Iraq. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz, Cpl. Jonathan F. Blair, and Spc. Dominic J. Hinton.

---

Flags fly at half staff for soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. — Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey ordered flags to be flown at half staff Wednesday in honor of a soldier from Howell who died in Iraq.

Army 1st Lt. Dennis W. Zilinski II was killed Nov. 19 when a bomb detonated near his Humvee during. He was among five 101st Airborne Division soldiers, two of them New Jerseyans, killed during two roadside bombings in Iraq that weekend.

“1st Lt. Zilinski was a courageous soldier fighting for our country’s safety and security,” Codey said. “We honor his life by flying the national and state flags at half-staff.”

Zilinski, 23, the son of a Vietnam veteran, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he earned several awards in swimming and diving. He was a team captain.

He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Campbell, Ky.

Staff Sgt. Edward Karolasz, 25, of Kearny, also was killed in the bombing.

An order to fly flags at half staff in his honor is expected soon, a Codey spokesman said Wednesday.