Army Capt. Dennis L. Pintor

Died October 12, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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30, of Lima, Ohio; assigned to the 20th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Oct. 12 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle in Baghdad. Also killed were Spc. Jaime Moreno and Spc. Michael S. Weger.

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Ohio soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

ELIDA, Ohio — A soldier who grew up in western Ohio has been killed in Iraq, the Department of Defense said.

Capt. Dennis Pintor, 30, was one of three soldiers killed when an explosive device detonated near their patrol vehicle on Tuesday, according to a Pentagon release Sunday. Pintor had been in Iraq since March with the 20th Engineer Battalion, based out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Also killed in the incident were Spc. Jaime Moreno and Spc. Michael S. Weger.

Capt. David C. Woodruff Jr. was Moreno and Weger’s former commanding officer, until he switched command’s with Pintor.

They were on a combat mission to find terrorists and search for IEDs, Woodruff said. “That was their mission, and Bravo Company is the best at it,” he said. “They are the hardest working soldiers in their Area of Operations and they never stop.”

Pintor graduated from Elida High School, about 70 miles south of Toledo, in 1992.

“He was a strong student, a good kid, good family, kind of the whole thing,” said Elida High guidance counselor Allen Clum, who taught Pintor in math. “He was active in tennis and soccer and was just a good kid.”

Pintor joined the Army after high school so he could earn his education, said his uncle, David Garrison Jr. of Lima.

“He wanted the family’s resources to be available for his younger brother and sisters,” he said.

Pintor graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1998, and also completed Army Ranger School, Garrison said.

Pintor’s parents moved over the summer from Ohio to the Philippines, where his father was born, family friends said. Pintor’s wife, Stacy, and their 4-year-old daughter, Rhea, live in Killeen, Texas, family friend Lillian Abelita of Lima said.

“Dennis was the kind of father that would care for the baby in a restaurant, allowing his wife to enjoy her meal before it got cold,” Garrison said.