March 29, 2010

Calif. SWAT officer, young marine killed in Afghanistan

A high-ranking SWAT officer, along with another marine who had aspirations to be an officer, died in the blast

Orange County Register

YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Two Yorba Linda men, 19 and 45, die in explosion while on patrol in Afghanistan.

One of the Marines was a 19-year-old who could barely wait to graduate from Esperanza High School to join the military and eventually become a police officer - just like his father.

The other was a 27-year veteran as well as a high-ranking SWAT officer in the Los Angeles Police Department who was married to a naval officer and had a 9-month-old daughter.

Both were killed early Wednesday by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan, relatives and authorities said.

Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, who entered the military just weeks out of high school in 2008, was in a vehicle that was destroyed by an improvised explosive device, said his father, Jon Centanni, a sergeant in charge of investigations for the Santa Ana Police Department's gang unit.

"He wanted to serve his country," Centanni said. "I supported it, and I still do."

Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle, 45, also was killed, said his father, Kenneth A. Cottle, 74, of Villa Park.

"He was a warrior - that's what he liked to do," Cottle said. "Anything physical."

Friends and family were planning a homecoming party for Cottle, who was due home at the end of May.

Cottle's wife, Emily, and daughter, Kaila Jane, are in Hawaii, where Emily, a naval officer, is stationed. Emily Cottle could not immediately be reached for comment. The couple, whose home was in Yorba Linda, married about a year ago.

The Defense Department would not confirm the deaths. A spokesman said a statement was likely by Friday.

Cottle and Centanni reportedly were traveling with two other Marines when their armored vehicle struck an IED. The condition of the other two Marines was not immediately available.

Marine Corps representatives informed the Centanni and Cottle families of the deaths about 3 p.m. Wednesday. They were to meet again with the families Thursday afternoon to detail the circumstances.

The bodies of Centanni and Cottle will be flown to Delaware and then to Los Alamitos, probably next week, Kenneth Cottle said.
Centanni and Cottle enjoyed a personal friendship despite the difference in their ages, friends say. They became close friends after their deployment, with the older Marine taking the younger under his wing, they said.

Both Marines were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion out of Camp Pendleton in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

The men were deployed in November to stop Taliban soldiers and supplies coming from Pakistan, according to published reports.
Centanni was a light-armored vehicle driver.

The mood at Esperanza High School was somber as the news spread Thursday. Centanni's football coach, Bill Pendleton, got emotional as he recalled Centanni, who wore No. 30 and played linebacker his junior and senior years on the varsity team that won league titles both years.

"He was an average athlete, but he played with so much joy and enthusiasm," Pendleton said. "He was a great teammate and it's no surprise at all to me that he chose to join the one other thing with as much camaraderie - the U.S. military." Pendleton said a photo of Centanni will be added to a Hall of Fame in the school's weight room. The school district will be petitioned to add a bronze plaque on a campus wall.

The young Marine called his father weekly. They last spoke Monday.

"He sounded totally up," Jon Centanni said. "He loved what he was doing and loved the guys he was with over there. He was a great kid, a great son."

The Santa Ana Police Department set up an account and Web site for donations in Centanni's memory at www.rickcentanni.com/.

The department hopes to use the money to set up a scholarship at Esperanza in Centanni's name and install a plaque at the Yorba Linda Veterans Memorial.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said there likely would be a full departmental turnout for a memorial for Centanni's son.

"When something like this happens, everybody hurts," Walters said.

As a youth, Robert Cottle split time between his divorced parents' homes in Whittier and San Diego, never applying himself much to schoolwork, his father said.

When a family friend suggested that he attend a summer camp in Texas run by retired Marines, the then-15-year-old jumped at the idea. He liked the experience so much he went back the following summer, said his father.

After enlisting in the Marines at 18 and being sent on active duty to Africa, Germany and Hawaii, Robert Cottle decided, after seven years, that he wanted to become a police officer.

He stayed in the Marines as a reservist when, in 1990, he entered the LAPD academy. He became a member of the SWAT unit six years later and, when he died, was assistant team leader, his father said.

In November 2008, Cottle spoke at a Veterans Day program hosted by Placentia. He presented Mayor Scot Nelson with a U.S. flag that was flown during a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

"This deeply saddens me, especially since I've known 'RJ' for over 20 years," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement. "He is a fine man and a great example of the best LAPD has to offer. He will be missed."

The commander of the fallen Marines' battalion, Lt. Col. Michael S. Martin, wrote in a letter to family members when it deployed in November that it would likely be in Afghanistan for about seven months.

"Because of the unique skill sets of (the battalion), our location will be very austere," Martin wrote, "and I suspect our operational tempo to be high ... meaning we'll be busy."

Jon Centanni said his son's death hasn't made him bitter.

"Just say prayers and keep supporting the troops," he said. "Don't get a bad attitude because this happened. It's a part of war."