Michael Oremus slain by sniper

BEFORE Tuesday's game, Jamal Lis-Simmons told the Highland High School soccer team he coaches that he just learned that his friend and former teammate Michael Oremus had been killed in Iraq.

He told the team he wanted to dedicate the game to Oremus, and the team responded, beating Rondout Valley, 5-2. "We kind of played better soccer than we've played all year," Lis-Simmons said.

OREMUS, 21, a private first class in the U.S. Army, was killed by sniper fire in Baghdad on Monday while responding to an explosion. The 2002 graduate of Highland High School had been in Iraq for about three months of a one-year deployment.

Oremus was the third former Highland student killed in Iraq since 2003, and town of Lloyd Supervisor Robert Shepard said on Wednesday that the latest news hadn't really registered with the community.

"They're kind of shocked. It's just setting in," Shepard said. "I can't believe a third one is gone in such a small town." (Highland is a hamlet in the town of Lloyd.)

OREMUS' mother, Madeline Oremus-Palmese, was devastated by the news of her son's death. Daniel Palmese, Oremus' stepfather, said his wife cried most of Tuesday. And emotions still were raw Wednesday as several family members attempted to comfort her.

"He was a loving, caring son," she said through tears Wednesday evening in her Kerhonkson home. "I really can't talk about it."

OREMUS' father, Bruce, died in 1995. Palmese said he had known Oremus for only three years but found him to be a dedicated person.

"We're proud of him," Palmese said. "He went into the Army and he stuck with it."

LIS-SIMMONS said it was Oremus' nature to never give in.

"He wasn't big by any means. He was rather small. But he never backed down from anybody," said Lis-Simmons, who graduated from Highland High School two years before Oremus. "He always worked hard on the field," he said.

Lis-Simmons said he got the news of Oremus' death by text message. He was speechless at first, he said, but then started making phone calls. Tuesday evening, he gathered with friends to reminisce about Oremus.

JOHN McCarthy, superintendent of Highland Central School District, said crisis teams are in place to help students cope with their grief. Oremus graduated more than four years ago but still had friends and relative in the school district, McCarthy said.

In front of the high school on Pancake-Hollow Road sits a small footstone memorial to the other two Highland soldiers killed in Iraq. Eugene Williams, 24, a U.S. Army sergeant with the 3rd Infantry Division, was killed March 29, 2003, by a suicide car bomb. Doron Chan, 20, a specialist in the Army Reserves, died in a Humvee accident on March 18, 2004. McCarthy said the district will honor Oremus, too.

"No one was hoping to have to add one to that (memorial), but obviously, that's something that, down the road, we'll definitely do," he said.

LIS-SIMMONS said he still can't believe three people he went to school with have died in Iraq.

"To know that I was in school with three kids now who have all died in Iraq is a scary thing," he said.

Especially Oremus, with whom Lis-Simmons played soccer during the 1999-2000 school year and who he knew "forever."

"The Oremus name is always kind of synonymous with Highland soccer," Lis-Simmons said, noting the Oremus' brother, Bruce, also played on the high school team. "They really are a serious staple."

SHEPARD and McCarthy both said they had been in touch with Oremus' family and that a public memorial will be held if the family wants one.

Lis-Simmons said a small group of friends went to the Kerhonkson home of Oremus' mother and stepfather to offer condolences.

"The support from Highland has been tremendous," Palmese said.

From the Daily Freeman

Uncle remembers "one of the best"

Highland — Jack Marciano's jaw was set, his movements deft and efficient as he cut a customer's hair yesterday afternoon

"He was one of the best," he said. "He was just one of those people, an incredible kid."

The owner of Jack's Barber Shop on Main Street in Highland halts his work for a moment and motions to a wall mirror, festooned with photos.

"That's him right there," he said, pointing with his scissors to a black-and-white shot of four young men smiling tightly at the camera. Army Pfc. Michael Oremus was Marciano's nephew.

Marciano peeled the photo off the mirror's edge, pointed his finger at the handsome kid in the corner of the shot.

"He was the kind of kid everyone knew, everyone liked."

Emotion clawed at his voice, making it whispery.

"I gave him a haircut before he left. He wanted to go. He chose to go. And he did it with great honor."

Marciano stares for a moment at the photo.

"Me being a Vietnam vet, we talked about what he was doing, about him being safe and not doing anything crazy..."

He stopped talking. Tears welled, reddened his eyes.

"He was such a great kid."

Jamal Lis-Simmons is the varsity soccer coach at Highland High School. He was Oremus' friend and teammate.

"He loved the game of soccer. He wasn't the biggest guy, but he never backed down, never stopped working hard and still had a good time doing it."

The varsity, which has been struggling lately, played Rondout Valley Tuesday afternoon. Lis-Simmons took his team aside before the game and told them about Mike Oremus, what kind of guy he was, how important he and his family were to Highland soccer. Oremus' older brothers were also top high school soccer players.

"I told them I was in a tough spot, just having learned about Mike. And I asked them to play with Mike in mind."

It wasn't much in the great scheme of things, cast against the darkness of the day, but it was something — something the guy who never backed down would surely have appreciated. The final score that afternoon was Highland 5, Rondout Valley 2.

From the Times Herald