Guy Barratieri killed by improvised explosive device

When he wasn't serving his country as a Green Beret, Army Maj. Guy Richard Barattieri was putting his life on the line at home.

A 1992 West Point graduate, Barattieri left the Army to become a Seattle police officer in August 2001, eventually earning the nickname "Bear" for his physical presence. His fellow officers said he also had a giant heart.

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 a month later, however, tugged at his West Point code of "duty, honor, country." Barattieri left the department in 2004 and returned to military duty. He joined the Washington National Guard's Special Forces, 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group based at an armory in Buckley, 24 miles east of Tacoma.

Barattieri, married only a year to Laurel, "the love of his life," and the father of a 3-month-old daughter, returned last week to Iraq for yet another among numerous missions there, his friends recalled.

Wednesday morning, Barattieri was killed in Iraq; his wife, family and friends learned of his death within hours.

Military officials Wednesday night declined to comment on Barattieri's death, adhering to a strict 24-hour rule before publicly identifying those killed in action.

Barattieri, however, is one of the highest-ranking of the 137 members of the armed forces with ties to this state who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003.

Barattieri had been president of his 2001 police academy class, which included cadets from across the state. While Barattieri's family secluded themselves, his friends spoke for them as word of his loss rippled not only through the Seattle Police Department, but also through other departments in the region.

"Devastated," King County sheriff's Deputy Matt Tighe said grimly Wednesday. Before leaving Seattle police to join the Sheriff's Office, Tighe was partners with Barattieri in a two-man patrol car in Seattle.

"He is sorely missed," Tighe, a former soldier, said. "He was an outstanding guy who really liked helping people, a great husband and dad, just an amazing man."

Even after leaving Seattle police and between tours in Iraq, Barattieri would put his training to use, helping the Milton Police Department as a reserve officer in that small city between Seattle and Tacoma.

"A superhero, a GI Joe, a phenomenal guy -- a protector," Tighe said, searching for words to describe his friend.

Details of Barattieri's death were still sketchy last night, Seattle police Detective Nick Bauer said. Unconfirmed information said a roadside bomb killed Barattieri.

Bauer had been Barattieri's field-training officer after the police academy, and the two became close friends.

"It's very difficult to take," Bauer said. Soldiering is "a dangerous job with a lot of risks that you will come home in parts," he said. Even police work has risks that are not good, but that those willing to take them on behalf of others "live with and accept," he said.

"He was absolutely a distinguished soldier and a distinguished officer -- an extraordinary man, one of those guys who won the hearts and minds of everyone he came in contact with," Bauer said. The detective's own young son, whose football games Barattieri made it a point to attend, was weeping nearby. Bauer last spoke with his friend last week before Barattieri left for Iraq.

"It was just a routine tour he was going to do," Bauer said. "He was one of those guys who takes things in stride, one of the guys I just assumed would come home.

"When we hear about soldiers dying, each one of these people has a face and a family. (Barattieri) was an extraordinary person and loved by everyone."

His daughter, Odessa, was born in August. "He was very excited. It was his first baby, and he did it all -- diapers and everything," his stepmother, Barbara Barattieri, told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Barattieri was from Pleasant Ridge, Ohio, which is near Cincinnati.

After graduating from West Point, Barattieri had earned a place in some of the Army's elite units, having been a Ranger before earning his Green Beret, his friends said. They said Barattieri served in numerous missions in Iraq.

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer

"The world is a darker place..."

SEATTLE - The flag at the Milton Police Department flies at half staff and officers, in tribute to one of their own, have covered their badges.

That's because Guy Barattieri was one of their own. But he was killed in Iraq Wednesday.

"Guy is a very personable guy and everybody that met Bear liked him," says Milton police officer William Downey.

Downey says everyone called Barattieri "Bear." Before leaving for Iraq with the National Guard, he was a reserve police officer for the small Pierce County Department. He'd been there only a few months, but Downey says the friendship already ran deep.

"Bear was so excited about being a father for the first time," said Downey. "The world's a darker place today without Bear in it."

Downey says Barattieri celebrated the birth of a daughter just three months ago.

Wednesday night his family in Seattle, and in his home state of Ohio, asked for their privacy. A friend at the Seattle Police Department, where Bear also served as a reserve officer a few years ago, offered these words in their place:

"Bear was an extraordinary person," said Detective Nick Bauer, who called Barattieri among his friends. "Just an extraordinary man. But more importantly he was a great friend to not only myself but everyone who met him."

Barattieri was a West Point graduate and played linebacker on the Army football team. He served active duty for more than a decade, then left to join the Seattle Police force, Bauer says, to give his family a more permanent place to call home.

But his friends say he stayed active in the National Guard and returned to serve in Iraq.

In Milton, this is a loss that hits for a second time. Sgt. Christopher Van Der Horn was also a former reserve for Milton Police. He was the first soldier to die in Iraq this year: killed by a roadside bomb on January 1st.

"You know that's the thing," said Bauer. "Every soldier or officer who is injured or killed in the line of duty... they're not just a number. They're a person."

"The world is a darker place today," added Downey. "Because we've lost a true warrior."

As of Wednesday night, there has been no official confirmation of how Barattieri died. Friends say they have been told he was killed by a roadside bomb.

A spokesperson for Seattle Police say they expect to provide a full police escort for Barattieri's body when flown to Sea-Tac Airport, perhaps later this week.

From KOMO 1000

UPDATE: 10/08/06

Guy Barattieri has now been identified as a contractor working in Iraq.