(I have been unable to learn which GLO he belonged to at Brown)
Family, friends recall their ‘treasure,’ fallen Marine
By Nancy Cicco
ncicco@seacoastonline.com
HAVERHILL, Mass. - Until last week, Penelope Gavriel believed her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel, was working in a military-intelligence office somewhere in Iraq.
But it turned out his "office" was the frontline.
Gavriel, 29, formerly of Atkinson, N.H., was carrying a machine gun when he died during intense fighting in Fallujah on Nov. 19. He is survived by his mother, his father, Chris, and a 27-year-old sister, Christina, among other family and friends.
On Tuesday, his mother remembered her son as a "treasure" of a boy who radiated joy and was "as big as life, but never intimidating."
"He was not an ordinary kid; he was aiming high," Penelope Gavriel said.
Dimitrios "Dimmy" Gavriel was a member of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
A 1993 graduate of Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow, Gavriel earned a business management degree from Brown University in 1997 and went on to a career as a financial analyst on Wall Street. In New York, he worked for such firms as Paine Webber and J.P. Morgan, among others.
But after four of his friends - two of them former Brown fraternity brothers - were killed in the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Gavriel gave up his career to join the military, his mother said.
Lance Cpl. Dimitrios Gavriel
Don Woodworth, the assistant principal at Timberlane Regional High School, and one of Gavriel’s former wrestling coaches, said on Tuesday he was not surprised by his former student’s decision to enlist.
In joining the military, Gavriel thought he could be "an active participant in eradicating a wrong," Woodworth said.
"He looked for a higher purpose," Woodworth said. "It all fits; he was a loyal kid."
Gavriel, a heavyweight, was the captain of the high school’s wrestling team when it captured the state title in 1993.
"He was larger than life in so many ways," Woodworth said. "We looked at him as a perfect kind of role model. ... It sounds so cliché, but he was remarkable and very impressive to know."
Gavriel was named after his mother’s brother, Dimitrios, who, as a green beret in the Greek Army, was killed by friendly fire in 1972, according to Penelope Gavriel.
"It’s an eerie set of circumstances," she said, reflecting on both deaths.
She called her son "a good patriot."
"He joined during war time. ... He was so proud of that," she said.
Eight days before his death, Gavriel sustained a shrapnel wound to his leg. Although he could have remained behind, he chose to return to the fight, she said.
Gavriel believed he had much to fight for, according to his mother.
Chris and Penelope Gavriel emigrated to the United States from Greece when they were in their 20s, she said. She called the family’s story "the typical, ultimate American success story," and said her son joined the military as a way to honor the United States.
"He used to say this country has blessed our family with so much," she said.
Gavriel’s family is planning a memorial service to celebrate his life. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, his mother said. His family is in the process of establishing scholarships in Gavriel’s name at both Timberlane and Brown.
Well-read, Gavriel wrote poetry and journals that chronicled his life experience.
His family released some of those writings on Tuesday. As a 23-year-old, Gavriel wrote: "I have heard that great men often kept journals - I’d like to be great."
"People liked him," Woodworth recalled. "Dimmy showed the way."
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