LANCE CORPORAL DOMINIC J. CIARAMITARO "SEMPER FIDELIS" August 4, 1991 - April 23, 2011
Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro, 19, of South Lyon, Mich., died April 23 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Dominic is survived by his mother Deborah Beaupre, his father John Ciaramitaro; sisters: Holly Ciaramitaro, Lucy Ciaramitaro, Elizabeth Peters, Grace Ciaramitaro; brother Salvatore Ciaramitaro; his grandparents Salvatore (Marie) Ciaramitaro and Susan Boston and many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandfather Gerry Boston and his sister Megan.
Words cannot express how much we miss you Dominic, a day does not pass that we don't think about you. We see a "Marine", we hear a song on the radio, we see a blue pickup truck and we think about you. We see young men playing basketball at church or service men at the airport coming home and we think about you. We pass a 7-11, a sub shop or the power house gym and we think about you. You were a truly amazing young man and a hero to your siblings; Sammy, Holly, Lucy, Lizzy and Gracie. We talk about you often so that Gracie will know how strong and brave her big brother was. We are grateful for the time that we had with you and you will always remain in our hearts. Love always, Dad and Lynn.
GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. — Before there were words, there were tears.
Heads lowered and hands clasped April 30 as about 200 friends and family members gathered at St. Clare Montefalco Catholic Church to mourn Marine Lance Cpl. Dominic Ciaramitaro. The 19-year-old was killed the day before Easter by a bomb in Afghanistan. He died young — but he died honorably, said associate pastor Thomas Griffin, a former Navy chaplain who also ministered to Marines.
“You could see it in his eyes — he was a Marine, he had chosen his path,” his aunt Mary Sullivan said to the mourners. “Honor and duty became the driving force behind all that he did.”
But before he was a Marine, Ciaramitaro was a kid from Grosse Pointe who spent Saturdays with his father at his produce business in Eastern Market. He moved to South Lyon, a teenager who never doubted he’d fit in at his new school.
“He climbed on the bus, and he was golden,” father John Ciaramitaro said after the service, as a lowered flag wafted in the breeze behind him at the war memorial in Grosse Pointe Park. Ciaramitaro left for Afghanistan in December, six months after boot camp. He called home on satellite phones that were patchy. Things were slow, he’d tell his father. It’s winter.
But spring bloomed new dangers. Lance Cpl. Ciaramitaro started telling his dad about new snipers — better trained and better shots.
“He was right in the meat grinder,” said John Ciaramitaro, himself the son of an Air Force veteran.
On April 23, John Ciaramitaro cleaned out the garage and colored Easter eggs with his family. With one foot in the shower, he heard someone yell that men in uniforms were at his front door. He said it was just like a movie.
“I can’t begin to explain what that feels like,” he said.
Ciaramitaro was evacuated to a field hospital after his Humvee, which was carrying five Marines, hit a bomb, his father learned. Another Marine died. Ciaramitaro died of massive head trauma, his father said. His body is still en route to Michigan.
Flags flew all over the grounds of St. Clare Montefalco. Marines filled a front pew, including Staff Sgt. Tyson Wade of Kentucky, who presented John Ciaramitaro with an honorable service award in a red cover.
“In grateful memory of Lance Cpl. Dominic John Ciaramitaro, who died while in the service of our country,” Wade said, reading the certificate to the family.
As the attendees knelt in prayer, John Ciaramitaro hugged his youngest child, Grace, 5.
“He was God’s son, God’s child,” Pastor David Brecht said during Mass. “It was God who gave him his life. It was God who gave him his destiny.”
2016
This spring, the South Lyon Community Schools approved a very fitting tribute to this Marine. The district will rename a newly refurbished field and complex for athletes in his name to honor his and his family's sacrifice.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 1224 would like to build a memorial to place at the field so that all may remember this young Marine and football player.
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