Vincent M. Frassetto honored, laid to rest

Hundreds Mourn Marine Killed After Just 2 Weeks In Iraq

TOMS RIVER, N.J -- Hundreds in the suburban Ocean County community of Toms River bid farewell Saturday morning to Pfc. Vincent Michael Frassetto, 21, a Marine with a self-described lady-killer smile who died in Iraq on Sept. 7.

He had left for Iraq on Aug. 23, just two weeks before he was killed in an explosion, NewsChannel 4 reported.

Friends, former classmates, family members and the community at large filled St. Luke's Catholic church on Freehold Road, sitting in silence at the closed-casket service for the 2003 graduate of Toms River High School North.

The young man's brother, Sgt. John Frasetto, 25, who also began his tour of duty with the Marine Corps in Iraq, flew in from the wor-torn country for the funeral. Eleven members of Vincent's unit also flew in and helped carry the Marine to his final resting place, according to NewsChannel 4.

Vincent Frasetto was killed in Anbar province during his first week participating in missions in Iraq, according to the Star Ledger.

His convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device, military officials told the family. He had been riding in a vehicle at the time.

“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” his mother, Teresa Frassetto, said as she stroked pictures of her son during a conversation with the Star-Ledger soon after she got the news.

The young man, who his mother said had been a rabblerouser as a kid, had decided on the Marines and appeared to have found his path. Before he left, he talked about the military paying for college and even mentioned that he might get a business degree and open a restaurant one day, the Star-Ledger reported.

Vincent had the choice of volunteering for a mission in Iraq that would send him home after six months, or waiting for a later assignment with his unit and spending a year in Iraq.

He chose the shorter stint and followed John to Iraq, just as he had followed him into high school football years earlier, according to the Star-Ledger.

Walter Peto, Toms River High School North athletic coordinator, called him “the nicest kid, kid, quiet…He was the type of kid who would have made a great contribution to society and been a great father,” according to the Home New Tribune.

Read the rest at the WNBC 4

At the wake for Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto on Friday, Sgt. John P. Frassetto accepts his brother's Purple Heart from Lt. Col. Pete Keating.

Loss tightens Marine's family

DOVER TOWNSHIP — The stream of mourners was constant, but Terri and John Frassetto greeted each visitor, even consoling many, who filed past the flag-draped casket of their son, Marine Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto.

While people lined up outside St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church waiting to pay their respects, Sgt. John P. Frassetto said he could not believe the goodness of the people who came to express condolences for his younger brother.

"People we don't even know," Sgt. Frassetto said. "And all the flags are at half-staff."

Private First Class Vincent M. Frassetto, 21, a 2003 graduate of Toms River High School North, was killed Sept. 7 by a roadside bomb in Iraq's Anbar province.

Among the visitors were U.S. Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J., Gov. Corzine and Dover Township Mayor Paul C. Brush.

Terri Frassetto, addressing the afternoon service, said her son is at peace, and the family believes that his death would have happened no matter where he was. Her son could have been stricken with illness or had other devastating outcomes which would have been even worse than what his fate turned out to be, she said.

"Our son's life was short, much too short," Terri Frassetto said.

His love for life and his ability to live life to the fullest was unparalleled, she said to several hundred mourners.

Vincent Frassetto had a bright spirit, brilliant smile and lovable attitude, agreed those who knew him and spoke at the church.

Marc Lockwood, 21, of Dover Township was Vincent Frassetto's best friend. His memories of the good times they shared will be the substance of stories he hopes to someday tell his grandchildren.

"I will never forget the kid, ever," Lockwood said. "This is ridiculously hard."

Read the rest at the Asbury Park Press


Family loses one of two sons in Iraq

DOVER TOWNSHIP — Terri Frassetto has had trouble sleeping since her two sons, Pfc. Vincent Michael Frassetto, 21, and Sgt. John P. Frassetto, 25, began their tours of duty with the Marine Corps in Iraq last month.

She awoke on her couch at 2:53 a.m. Thursday, a minute or so before the door bell rang.

In a few moments she would learn her son Vincent was killed by an "improvised explosive device" while riding in a vehicle in Al Anbar province at 1:20 a.m. Thursday Iraqi time.

Through the etched glass in the door, Terri Frassetto could see, standing in the porch light, two men in dark blue uniforms and white caps.

She opened the door of the Silverton home.

"One said to me, "Can we come in?' And I said, "Is it bad?' And he said, "Yes ma'am,' " Terri Frassetto said.

She got her husband, John Frassetto, from upstairs. The Marine officer read a statement, which started, "On behalf of the United States Marine Corps," and then it seemed like an eternity before the officer said the name of the son who was the subject of the bad news.

A 2003 graduate of Toms River High School North, Vincent Frassetto is among the more than 2,600 members of the U.S. military serving in Iraq who had died since the war began in March 2003.

The Marines offered their condolences to his parents and were gone by 3:22 a.m., said Terri Frassetto, 49.

When the sun came up, the Frassettos, stunned by the news, had kept it to themselves. Terri Frassetto feared that in the age of instant information, her two daughters, Alyssa, 19, who was away at Rowan University, would learn somehow through the computer about her brother's death. Because of the time difference, Mrs. Frassetto waited three hours before calling her daughter Gina, 26, in California.

"I didn't want to call anybody because I didn't want to say the words," Terri Frassetto said. "I didn't want to tell anybody such horrible news."

As the morning progressed, Terri and John Frassetto went to their jobs and informed their co-workers of the tragedy and made arrangements to take time off.

John Frassetto was stoic as he stood outside his home with other family and friends Friday evening.

"Every once in a while you feel it come over you," he said.

Read the rest at the Asbury Park Press