Soldier from Niles dies in accident

The 42-year-old career Army officer was a graduate of Warren JFK.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
NILES -- The family of a soldier who grew up here has been numbed by his death in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Dominic R. Baragona, 42, died Monday near Safwan, the Department of Defense said Tuesday. He is the fifth Ohio soldier killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
A tractor-trailer jackknifed on the road and collided with Baragona's Humvee.
Two Humvees and one civilian truck were involved. An Iraqi citizen was killed and two soldiers were injured, the Defense Department said.
Longtime serviceman
Baragona was commanding officer of the 19th Maintenance Battalion at Fort Sill, Okla. He had been in the army since he left home at 18 to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., said a cousin, Anthony Baragona of Niles.
"We're all numb. He was coming home in June," Anthony said.
Most of the colonel's family lives in Florida and Arizona.
His parents reside in St. George Island, Fla.
"We're devastated," his father, Dominic, said early today. "The whole family is flying in tomorrow. It's just a terrible time."
Headed for Kuwait
He said his son was in a convoy headed for Kuwait. He had recently talked with him on a satellite phone.
"He told me, 'Things are looking good -- we're rolling out of here in two days,'" his father said.
"They were heading to Kuwait City to load and ship, and then they were getting on a plane to come home," said Baragona's mother, Vilma. "He was such a joy. He kept this family connected."
Baragona made sure he always kept in touch with family, even distant cousins who still live in the Niles area, his mother said.
"Especially when e-mail came along," she said. "We were in touch with him almost constantly between e-mail and satellite phones."
Family togetherness
Baragona's father said he last saw his son at Christmas. He said his son, a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Warren and a 1982 graduate of West Point, always made a big deal about getting the family together.
"Every Christmas, he was the guy who put it all together. He was the one who spent the most on Christmas presents," he said. "That was his style."
He also was an avid Browns and Indians fan. His middle name, Rocco, was chosen for popular Indians slugger Rocky Colavito, and he went by the nickname Rocky.
"I just e-mailed him about the Indians' win [Monday] night," Baragona said. "I didn't even realize that when I wrote to him he was probably gone."
Baragona said he had a close relationship with his son and e-mailed him daily. They enjoyed arguing politics.
"I was the liberal and he was the conservative," he said. "It was a great fun thing that we would go through."
But they put politics aside once the war started.
"We supported the troops 100 percent and had the ribbons flying outside of the house," his father said. "You want to hope that all this was worth it. I don't want him to die in vain."