SANTA ROSA, CA, USA U.S. Army PFC, CO D, 1ST BN, 502D INF, 2 BCT, 4 ID, (TF BAGHDAD), FORT CAMPBELL, KY BAGHDAD, IRAQ 02/01/2006
Army Private First Class Caesar S. Viglienzone, 21, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Feb. 1 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad.
Born in Honolulu, Viglienzone grew up in Santa Rosa and joined the Army a year after graduating from Ridgway High School. He was deployed to Iraq September 2005, two weeks after his 21st birthday.
While serving in Iraq, Viglienzone was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Combat Infantry Badge. Viglienzone also earned his Air Assault Wings.
“Caesar’s decision to join the Army was born from a desire to do something he could be proud of and all of his family could be proud of,” the soldier’s uncle Ray Viglienzone said. “He was proud and we are proud of him. He was a good kid who decided he was going to do something with his life. He felt this was the right thing to do at this point in history.”
“In his last e-mail to his cousin, Sam, he said, ‘Iraq is definitely going to be OK. … The vast majority of Iraqis want us here, not to keep occupying their county forever but want us to stay, finish the job and pass the torch on to them,'” said Ray Viglienzone.
“He was a great boy, a man, somebody you would have liked to know,” said his father, Dennis Viglienzone. “If you’re in a difficult situation, he was somebody you’d want to be with.”
Viglienzone liked playing drums and guitar and diving for abalone, which he learned to do at age 13, his parents said. He also enjoyed camping with his family and playing cards.
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