Mario Nelson killed by rocket-propelled grenade

Mario Nelson's family and closest friends called him "Big Mo."

The nickname was fitting for a man who stood 6-foot-3 and weighed 273 pounds, a man whose sister said was the strongest person she'd ever met.

But yesterday in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, his family recalled the tender side of a giant of a soldier who, his sister Sandra Nelson said, was "fun, outgoing and very loving," soft words uttered a day after they all learned Big Mo had been killed by a rocket-propelled grenade while patrolling in the city of Hit in Iraq.

He was 26, and had joined the Army because he liked action and assuming authority and, said his brother, Gary, serving the country.

The Department of Defense said Nelson, a sergeant, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg, Germany. He was killed Sunday when the device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle, officials said.

"He has always been a fighter," said Sandra Nelson, who also is in the Army. "He had an authority presence wherever he was."

Born on the edge of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Nelson came to the United States at 8 years old, when his family settled in Brooklyn.

He attended Westinghouse High School, his sister said, and had dreamed of becoming a police officer or a soldier.

"He always wanted to be independent and free," she said. Gary Nelson added that his brother was attracted to some of the armed forces' other benefits, such as scholarship funds.

"He liked the military life very much," Gary Nelson said. "He liked to help the country and he liked the activities and the action, I guess."

Mario Nelson was married to Mecca Nelson, and had a 3-year-old daughter, Mia, who live in Germany. He kept in touch regularly with his family in New York, speaking with relatives as recently as last Thursday.

Sandra Nelson said he had been in Iraq since January and was due to come home in December.

"He was always thinking about the future," Sandra Nelson said. "He never settled for anything less than what he thought was the best."

From Newsday