Marine Pfc. Sean T. Cardelli

Died February 1, 2006 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Downers Grove, Ill.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); killed Feb. 1 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations near Fallujah, Iraq.

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Illinois Marine dies in Iraq

The Associated Press

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — A 20-year-old from this Chicago suburb has died while serving in Iraq with the Marines, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Pfc. Sean T. Cardelli, a 2004 Lisle Senior High School graduate, died Wednesday during combat near the western city of Fallujah, the military said in a statement.

Cardelli loved being in the Marines, said Lisle Senior High School Assistant Principal Mark Cunningham.

“Last year he came back in uniform, he was real proud with a big smile on his face, it really looked good on him,” Cunningham said Friday.

Cardelli was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Pendleton, Calif., the military said. In Iraq, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The flag at Lisle Senior High School, where Cardelli was on the wrestling team, was lowered to half-staff after school officials heard the news, Cunningham said. Players observed a moment of silence before a girl’s basketball game.

“He was a real hard-nosed kid. He stepped up for the challenge at any weight we needed him at,” said Lisle wrestling coach John Ruettiger. “He was a team player.”

It took a while for Cardelli, who started at Lisle in his sophomore year, to fit in at the close-knit school, Cunningham said.

“By the time he left, Sean had developed a number of really strong relationships with the students and some of his teachers,” Cunningham said. “He worked very hard to succeed academically; he was willing to put in that time.”