U.S. CASUALTY Soldier, a former Ohioan, dies in Iraq

The Army captain was a West Point graduate.
ELIDA, Ohio (AP) -- A soldier who grew up in western Ohio has been killed in Iraq, the Department of Defense said.
Army Capt. Dennis Pintor, 30, was one of three soldiers killed when an explosive device detonated near their patrol vehicle Tuesday, according to a Defense Department release Sunday. Pintor had been in Iraq since March with the 20th Engineer Battalion from Fort Hood, Texas.
Pintor graduated from Elida High School, about 70 miles south of Toledo, in 1992.
"He was a strong student, a good kid, good family, kind of the whole thing," said Elida High guidance counselor Allen Clum, who taught Pintor in math. "He was active in tennis and soccer and was just a good kid."
Joined for education
Pintor joined the Army after high school so he could earn his education, said his uncle, David Garrison Jr. of Lima.
"He wanted the family's resources to be available for his younger brother and sisters," he said.
Pintor graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1998, and also completed Army Ranger School, Garrison said.
Pintor's parents moved over the summer from Ohio to the Philippines, where his father was born, family friends said. Pintor's wife, Stacy, and 4-year-old daughter Rhea live in Killeen, Texas, family friend Lillian Abelita of Lima said.
"Dennis was the kind of father that would care for the baby in a restaurant, allowing his wife to enjoy her meal before it got cold," Garrison said.
Abelita said that tentative plans were to bury Pintor at West Point next weekend and that a memorial service would be held at a Lima church on a later date.