Michael Cerrone laid to rest

WORCESTER— Capt. Michael A. Cerrone was more than a soldier, though he was outstanding at that — as his father, above all, knows best.

Army Brig. Gen. James A. Cerrone, a Worcester native and father of the 24-year-old Army paratrooper, yesterday eulogized his son, killed Nov. 12 by a car bomb in Iraq, as a happy-go-lucky individualist who also had the courage to lead soldiers into battle.

Brig. Gen. Cerrone, speaking from the pulpit of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, recalled sipping brandy and smoking cigars with his son in his backyard, skydiving out of planes with him twice and marveling at Capt. Cerrone’s ability to succeed academically at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point despite his habit of last-minute cram sessions.

The general, who is the special assistant to the commander of Fort Bragg, N.C., is scheduled to retire in January after a 29-year military career. He spoke of the pride he and his wife, Elizabeth, had in a son whom other battlefield commanders in Iraq said was an exemplary warrior.

“Mike was not just any son, he was a brother in arms,” said Brig. Gen. Cerrone, who graduated from St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury and Assumption College. “He was brave in combat. He led from the front and took care of his men. Mike was a son who made his parents proud.”

Capt. Cerrone, who was promoted posthumously, served as a first lieutenant after graduating from West Point in 2004. After infantry and airborne training, he was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, where his father is posted.

The officer died after an improvised explosive device went off near his Humvee, killing him and a fellow soldier as they were on patrol near Samara, Iraq.

In Worcester, Mr. Cerrone’s somber last rites unfolded at noon in the 100-year-old church — which has long been a beacon for the city’s Italian-Americans — no more than a mile from where his father grew up in the Grafton Hill neighborhood.

Capt. Cerrone’s paternal grandparents, Anthony and Janet Cerrone, sat in the front pews of the packed church with other family members, including his maternal grandfather, Michael Marino.

Capt. Cerrone’s brother, James A. Cerrone, an ROTC cadet and a student at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla., was also among the more than 400 mourners. He sat near his brother’s casket next to his mother, often clasping her hand as she fought tears. Mrs. Cerrone also put her arm around her husband.

More than 60 soldiers and West Point cadets attended the funeral, including five other generals.

Two Central Massachusetts politicians, state Rep. Harold P. Naughton Jr., D-Clinton, a veteran of a recent tour of duty in Iraq, and Rep. John P. Fresolo, D-Worcester, the son of a veteran, also attended.

Capt. Cerrone, who was single, was born in Clarksville, Tenn., and lived in many states and overseas, including one stint in Worcester, as his father took various postings.

“He was a typical military child” who earned a black belt in karate, played baseball, basketball and soccer and wrestled, his father said. He also loved surfing, target shooting and playing pool and video games.

Lt. Marshall McGuirk, a 23-year-old infantry platoon leader from Greenville, S.C., roomed with Capt. Cerrone for a semester at West Point.

He credited Capt. Cerrone with motivating him to stay in school when he was having academic trouble.

“He was the kind of guy, who, whether you’re in combat or going out to have a good time, you want to have by your side,” said Lt. McGuirk, who is just back from a combat tour in Iraq.

Many mourners, in maroon berets, were members of Capt. Cerrone’s parachute regiment. A seven-soldier honor guard from the 505th Regiment, in dark green dress uniforms, hoisted their fallen comrade’s flag-draped coffin in and out of the church sanctuary on the brisk, wind-whipped late fall day.

Bishop Robert J. McManus gave a brief commendation prayer after the church’s pastor, the Rev. Michael P. Bafaro, offered prayers and homilies.

Bishop McManus touched the casket and offered his hand to Capt. Cerrone’s parents.

“His loss is a great loss to his family and to our country,” the bishop said.

Mourners sang the national anthem before exiting into the bright mid-day sun and forming a long procession of vehicles led by a police motorcycle escort across the city to Notre Dame Cemetery.
There, Mrs. Cerrone broke down and wept.

Her son’s and her husband’s fellow soldiers fired their weapons in a 21-gun salute.

From the Worcester Telegram

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