Marine Pfc. Angel Rosa

Died March 13, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of South Portland, Maine; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 13 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in al Anbar province, Iraq.

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Marine from South Portland dies in Iraq

The Associated Press

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A former soccer captain from South Portland High School was killed during combat in Iraq, officials said March 15.

Marine Pfc. Angel Rosa, 21, died March 13 from injuries sustained in combat in the volatile Anbar province, according to the Defense Department.

Rosa, who graduated from South Portland in 2004, was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

In South Portland, soccer coach John Shardlow remembered Rosa as a strong person who loved teaching younger children about soccer.

“He worked a lot with youth soccer,” Shardlow told WCSH-TV. “He was very involved in the community. If he served his country like he did his community, I think it’s a tribute to the kind of kids we’re raising in this area.”

Gov. John Baldacci said flags will be flown at half-staff on the day of his funeral. Arrangements were pending.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of another young life. When his country called him, Private First Class Rosa answered. There’s not enough we can do to honor his sacrifice,” Baldacci said. “Our prayers go out to his family.”

Baldacci made condolence calls Thursday morning.

“His mother said her son was always the first into battle, was always leading from the front,” Baldacci said. “She also said the people of South Portland have opened their arms to her family and have been incredibly supportive.”

Members of Maine’s congressional delegation also offered expressions of sympathy to Rosa’s family.

“These are trying times and words cannot do justice to the honor with which Angel served his country and the sadness and loss his family now feels,” said 2nd District Democratic Rep. Michael Michaud.

Sen. Susan Collins praised Rosa’s courage and fellow Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe said his heroism “will always be remembered by our country.”

Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat who represents the 1st District where Rosa went to school, said in a statement, “As we grieve the loss of another brave member of our armed forces serving in Iraq, we reaffirm our steadfast support for the troops and our heartfelt appreciation for the sacrifices they and they families have made on our behalf.”

Rosa left behind a wife, his mother in South Portland, his father in Miami and a sister, who graduated from South Portland High in 2005.

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Young widow planned formal marriage ceremony upon soldier’s return

The Associated Press

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — They met at a restaurant. She was asking for a job application. He happened to be standing behind the desk.

From there, the relationship between Angel Rosa and wife-to-be Elise McCabe flourished. They married last May in a civil ceremony at South Portland City Hall and planned a full Catholic wedding when the Marine returned home from Iraq.

Their plans were shattered in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province, where Marine Pfc. Rosa, 21, suffered fatal injuries in combat operations.

“He joined the Marines because that was going to be his way to take care of his family,” said Elise Rosa, also 21. “He did it for both of us.”

Wearing a T-shirt friends made for her with Rosa’s face on it, Elisa Rosa said Thursday she didn’t know what to feel. She said she was feeling so many emotions as she and the community grieved for the former South Portland High School soccer player and community volunteer.

Elise, who last spoke to her husband a few weeks ago, said his team, part of a forward expeditionary unit, was going on a mission that would take several days. That was the last thing she heard from him. He died March 13.

She, her father and other relatives grieved at the home of Anna and Robert Bradbury, Rosa’s parents. The young Marine also left behind an 18-year-old sister, Mimi Giordano, also a graduate of South Portland High School.

Angel Rosa was born in Philadelphia before moving to Puerto Rico. He was just 9 years old and unable to speak English when he came to Maine in 1994 to be reunited with his mother. Nonetheless, he quickly made friends.

At South Portland High School, he really earned his reputation on the soccer field. “As a coach, I needed to have somebody on the field that I could always count on,” said former soccer coach Adam Perron. “Angel was that person.”

Rosa volunteered as a referee for the city’s youth soccer program. He also worked with Latino children at Sacred Heart Parish in Portland, including immigrants from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere.

“A lot of things came easy to him,” said Kathy McInnis-Misenor, Rosa’s aunt and godmother. “But he was never a braggart. He was as humble a young man as you will ever meet.”

After graduating from high school, Rosa worked at several restaurants including the Village Cafe, where he met Elise, as he looked for direction.

He talked about being a firefighter or police officer, and decided the Marines would be the gateway to one of those careers. He enlisted Feb. 1, 2006.

Elise said she and Angel talked a lot about the future. They stayed up late and imagined the house they would buy someday, the kids they would raise.

“When he chose to join the Marines, it was hard for some of us to know that he wouldn’t be around as much,” Elise said. “He saw it as a way to make sure that everyone he loved and cared about would never have anything to worry about.”

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Hundreds turn out for funeral of Marine killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine — Hundreds packed the church where Lance Cpl. Angel Rosa planned a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony to pay last respects March 21 to the 21-year-old Marine killed in action in Iraq.

Gov. John Baldacci joined Rosa’s friends and family members at Sacred Heart Church for a funeral Mass for the 2004 South Portland High School graduate who enlisted in the Marines just over a year ago. He died March 13 in fighting in Anbar province.

Rosa’s wife Elise and other family members walked behind the flag-draped casket as it was accompanied by a military honor guard. Elise and Angel Rosa were married last May in a civil ceremony at South Portland City Hall.

Rosa, the captain of the South Portland soccer team during his senior year, was considering a career as a police officer or firefighter after completing his tour of duty.

Rosa, who was promoted posthumously from private first class, was remembered for his activities as a community volunteer, both as a referee for the youth soccer program and his work with Latino immigrant children at Sacred Heart Parish.

A man and a woman from a fringe church group in Kansas that preaches an anti-gay message were in the area, carrying signs that read “Pray for More Dead Soldiers” and “God Hates America.”

Scores of members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle group that turns out at funerals of troops killed in Iraq, were lined up near the church. The bikers often serve as a barrier between mourners and protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church who picket at military funerals.

The Topeka, Kan., couple, who identified themselves as Steve and Luci Drain, were barred by police from approaching within a couple of blocks of Sacred Heart Church, and they left the area after the funeral began.

The Westboro church said it sends delegates to military funerals to express its belief that American soldiers are being struck down by God as retribution for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

Baldacci had ordered flags throughout Maine lowered to half-staff on the day of Rosa’s funeral.