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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Army Sgt. Michael F. Paranzino
Died November 5, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
22, of Middletown, R.I.; assigned to 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Nov. 5 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
Flags ordered to half-staff to honor Paranzino
The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri has ordered flags to half-staff to honor a Rhode Island soldier who died in Afghanistan.
Army Sgt. Michael F. Paranzino, 22, of Middletown died Nov. 5 of wounds he received from when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, out of Fort Drum, N.Y.
Carcieri says Rhode Islanders’ thoughts and prayers are with the Paranzino family. He says the state and nation owe him a debt.
Flags will stay at half-staff until he is laid to rest.
Remembered for his strength, sensitivity
The Associated Press
Michael Paranzino was a serious weightlifter who joked that his extra-large T-shirts were too small to contain his muscles.
“He was so strong,” said his mother, Melane.
The Rhode Island native, born in Newport and raised in Middletown, grew up in the St. Lucy’s Parish community. He made two humanitarian trips to Nicaragua while still in high school.
Paranzino graduated from Middletown High School in 2006. He joined the Army a year later and became a cavalry scout. His comrades called him “Zino.”
The 22-year-old husband and father of two was serving in Afghanistan near Kandahar on Nov. 5 when he was killed in a bombing. He was assigned to Fort Drum, N.Y.
Friends and family members said Paranzino had a larger-than-life personality. They said he was quick with a laugh, always willing to take the lead, and popular with fellow soldiers and Afghan children.
Other survivors include his father, Francis “Butch” Paranzino; his wife, Lindsey; and two sons, Maxton and Logan.