Our Latest American Hero #23

douglasadicenzo
Originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Army Capt. Douglas A. Dicenzo, 30, of Plymouth, N.H.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany; killed May 25 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad. Also killed was Spc. Robert E. Blair.


“Army Captian From Plymouth Killed In Iraq”

An Army captain who was a star athlete from Plymouth Regional High School has been killed in Iraq. Capt. Douglas DiCenzo was killed yesterday when his Humvee drove over a roadside bomb, making him the third New Hampshire serviceman killed this month in Iraq.
“He was a quiet leader. He wasn’t a rah-rah guy,” his stepfather, Mark Burzynski of Plymouth, said today.

Burzynski said the explosion killed two people.

DiCenzo, 30, was a 1995 graduate of Plymouth High and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., in 1999. He was deployed to Iraq in November.

DiCenzo was a company commander in the 1st Armored Division, based in Baumholder, Germany.

Dicenzo’s wife, Nicole DiCenzo, 35, and 15-month old son, Dakin were in Germany today. DiCenzo also is survived by his mother, Cathy Crane, 55, of Plymouth; a brother, Daniel DiCenzo, 27, a coach at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.; and his father, Larry DiCenzo, of Charleston, S.C.

“He was such a good kid. He worked really hard at everything he did,” Larry DiCenzo told the Union Leader. “He was really dedicated to serving his country and thought it was his duty to do this.”

At Plymouth Regional High yesterday, guidance counselor Norm LeBlanc told the newspaper DiCenzo was a standout who excelled in sports and academics.

“This is going to devastate our town,” said LeBlanc, who also was DiCenzo’s Little League coach. “Dougie is one of the best. I can sincerely say he is one of the best products of our school in the 37 years it has been there.”

DiCenzo graduated fifth in his high school class, was class president and captain of the football and wrestling teams.

“He was that kid that everyone knows and likes,” said Mike LeBlanc, son of Norm LeBlanc and DiCenzo’s former classmate. “He was the ‘All-American’ kid.”