Nicholas Arvanitis remembered by friends

SALEM – Bill Croft and Brandon Oberkrieser were looking forward to someday playing music again with their friend Cpl. Nicholas Arvanitis.

The trio had played in a metal band called Thrall throughout high school, but they went their separate ways shortly after graduating in 2003: Arvanitis headed straight for the military, Croft now lives in Miami and Oberkrieser is in college.

Arvanitis, they say, was a talented guitarist who enjoyed playing heavy metal, jazz and was also fond of classic rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Queen. They always wanted to get together, whether for a reunion show or just a jam session, but it was tough finding the time.

Croft and Oberkrieser, both 21, were among the many mourners who came out yesterday during Arvanitis' calling hours at the Douglas & Johnson Funeral Home on Main Street.

They said their friend wanted to get a band together when he was done serving in Iraq and find some way to make a career out of music. He would have liked to have been able to make a living playing in a band, they said, but becoming famous wasn't what was important to him.

"He just wanted to play," said Oberkrieser, a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. "If he had to do something on the side, he would have."

Arvanitis, a Salem High School graduate, was killed Oct. 6 by gunfire in Bayji, Iraq, the day after he turned 22. He was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, N.C. He had been in Iraq since August and previously served in Afghanistan.

Arvanitis had talked for years about joining the military before he enlisted when he was 17; his mother, Maureen, who now lives in Manchester, had to give him permission. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, friends said, it only solidified his plans.

"That was pretty much when the decision was secured," said longtime friend Joe Boucher, 21, of Salem.

For people like Boucher, this is the second time they've had to mourn the death of a serviceman this year: Arvanitis was close friends with Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Moscillo, 21, of Salem, who was killed in May in Iraq when the Humvee he was riding in hit a roadside bomb. Moscillo was also a 2003 Salem High grad.

Keith Stickney, also 21, said he has many memories of hanging out with the two of them when they were students. Arvanitis played on Salem High's wrestling team, but he was always more passionate about music, he said. Stickney said he remembers how his friend was always upbeat.

"No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't peel a smile off his face," he said.

Devin Farmer, 21, of Windham remembers trying out for Thrall but not making the cut. He had only been playing guitar for a few years, he said, and couldn't compare to Arvanitis.

He said he was just glad that he got to play with someone with as much talent as Arvanitis.

Arvanitis' funeral is today at 10:30 a.m. at St. Joseph Church on Main Street. He will be buried with full military honors at Pine Grove Cemetery following the service.

From the Union Leader

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