Honoree: Ernesto G. Cimarrusti


Ernesto G. Cimarrusti
Dates: Died March 10, 2008
Hometown: Douglas, AZ
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Player: Shoon Kobayashi

Staff Sergeant Ernesto G. Cimarrusti, 25, of Douglas, Ariz. was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia. He died March 10, 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq of wounds sustained when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device. He and four others had just left an Iraqi merchant's shop when an Iraqi man walked up to them and detonated a vest packed with explosives.

SSG Cimarrusti was one of eight children. As a child, he was very into music and dreamed of having a career in the music industry one day. After graduating from high school in 2000, he joined the Army and was serving his third tour in Iraq. "Since he was little, he liked to play soldier. He was very excited to join the Army," said Verdugo, his brother and legal guardian.

SSG Cimarrusti's comrades knew him as "Rusty" and they describe him as a man of few words with a commitment to service. He was posthumously presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

He is survived by his wife and daughter.