Mark C. Paine killed by I.E.D.

Mark Paine graduated from high school in Moraga and was accepted at a number of highly ranked universities, including UC Berkeley. But Paine opted instead to serve his country, graduating from West Point before eventually becoming a U.S. Army captain.

Paine, 32, died Sunday in Iraq from wounds he received after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Taji, north of Baghdad, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Paine was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Fort Hood, Texas.

Paine's family declined comment Wednesday. His friends remembered the 1993 Campolindo High School graduate as a man guided by his dedication to serve and who served as a role model for others.

"He's one of those guys who could have been successful at anything," said his friend, Mark Benson, 30. "He kept high morals and everyday he lived those morals."

Benson and his two brothers, Brad, 25, and Eric, 32, considered Paine their brother and mentor. Paine was the best man at Eric Benson's wedding. Both Eric and Mark Benson are serving with the Navy.

"When he was around, he would light up the room," Brad Benson said. "He made every single person have a great time. He basically set the pace for other people to follow."

Benson's mother, Elizabeth Benson of Orinda, said of the former Eagle Scout, "He was a Boy Scout in every sense of the word. He exemplified everything in the code and the creed: he was loyal, kind, reverent."

Paine graduated from West Point in 1997. At the time of his death, he was on his second tour in Iraq. It began last Christmas; it was to have ended this Christmas.

During a two-week leave in September, Paine spent much of his time meeting with relatives of slain soldiers based at Fort Hood, friends said.

"He was an extremely good leader," said Elizabeth Benson's husband, retired Navy Admiral Burt Benson. "His company had taken some pretty bad hits, and he actually interfaced deeply with the families of the men who had been killed. He's just a superb individual."

Jim Rueb, senior pastor at Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, said, "Faith was right at the center of who he was."

Rueb described Paine as an outgoing young man who was "unusually gracious in the way he presented himself. He was very accomplished yet very humble and very willing to engage other people in a wonderful way."

After Paine went to West Point, his parents moved several times before settling in Rancho Cucamonga (San Bernardino County).

From the San Francisco Chronicle