Hendricken grad killed in Iraq (Eric Valdepenas)

PROVIDENCE -- Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Valdepenas, of Seekonk, a 21-year-old 2003 graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School, was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday in Iraq's restive Al Anbar province.

Valdepenas, son of Dr. Jesus B. Valdepenas, an East Providence family practice doctor, and Anne-Marie Valdepenas, was on patrol in Fallujah when his vehicle was struck by the bomb, known as an "improvised explosive device," the Marines said in a release last night.

Two other Marines, from Tulsa, Okla., and Overland, Kan., were also killed, the Marines said.

Valdepenas was the youngest of eight children. Besides his parents, he is survived by two brothers and five sisters.

Valdepenas was remembered at Hendricken yesterday as a star athlete and honors student. He was co-captain of the Hawks' lacrosse team and an all-state lacrosse player. He was a student at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst before his unit was called up.

"Eric was a bright young man, always upbeat and positive," said Brother Thomas R. Leto, president of Hendricken, a private Roman Catholic college prep school in Warwick.

Administrators interrupted classes yesterday afternoon, the second day back from summer vacation, to announce Valdepenas' death and to offer prayers for him and his family, Brother Leto said.

"There was silence in the hallways after the announcement and the fellows feel it," he said.

"It's just devastating," said Kevin Murray, of East Providence, the Hendricken lacrosse coach. "The kid was just a top-notch kid. He stopped by last year to tell me he was going into the Marines. He was a very dedicated kid to both Hendricken and to the lacrosse team."

Classmates were stunned. "I really don't know what to say other than I'm shocked that Eric was killed," said Marine Cpl. Timothy K. Hanrahanin an e-mail message to The Journal. "What I can remember about him is that he was always positive and kept a good mental attitude about him."

Another classmate, Nick DeRobbio, who is in the Army, said in an e-mail, "He was a great kid, always had a smile on his face. I was very sad when I found out."

Valdepenas was the second Hendricken graduate to die in the Iraq war. Army Capt. Matthew August, of North Kingstown, was killed on Jan. 27, 2004.

An engineering student, Valdepenas had interrupted his college studies to serve in Iraq when his reserve unit, the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, weapons company, was deployed to Iraq in March. The unit, based in Ayer, Mass., was scheduled to return late next month.

Read the rest at the Providence Journal