DOB/DOD: July 18, 1981 (Hartford, CT) – April 9, 2004; 22 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: Alcima Drive; Simsbury
ENLISTMENT: August 20, 2001
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 746; Automatic Rifleman
UNIT: C Company, 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment; Bristol, Connecticut
FAMILY: Born to Felix M., Sr. (1942-2021) and Claire R. Deschenes Del Greco (1949-2008). Sister, Alexa (1974-).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with device, Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal (Expeditionary), Global War on Terrorism Medal (Service), Armed Forces Reserve Medal with ‘M’ and ‘2’ device, Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, NATO ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) Medal – Yugoslavia, and the Combat Infantryman Badge (1st award).
CIRCUMSTANCES: Sergeant Del Greco was killed when an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire struck his mounted patrol in Baghdad.
OTHER: Felix was an Eagle Scout who used to tell a friend about his plans to run for President. As a teen, he knew he would join the military and enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1999 while still a student at Simsbury High School in Simsbury, Connecticut. He deployed to Bosnia in 2001 and to West Point in 2003 in the operation ordered by President Bush for homeland defense. He became a favorite cook on campouts despite some of his very strange, original recipes. In fact, his military comrades appointed him an unofficial cook during the nine-month stint at West Point. Felix volunteered to go to Iraq in December, and in March, his unit arrived in Kuwait and began operations in Baghdad two days before his death. Felix was full of love, life, and dreams. On visits back home, he would often show up proudly in his uniform at his old school.
Simsbury High School; Class of 1999. The photo on the right is from Ancestry.com.
From The Hartford Courant on April 16, 2004
Felix “Fee Fee” Del Greco lived in Simsbury for 20 years and attended Simsbury High School. There, he was a participant in many school activities, including the jazz band and other musical activities. He loved to play the harmonica and entertained many people with his own style of wit. People were important to him, and he was ready to help anyone who needed him. He was also a scholar and read a myriad of books since he was a small child. He traveled frequently as his interests were not only in his community but also extended far beyond his own world. He was a proud and loyal member of Boy Scout Troop 76 and had great respect for the leaders. With the help of his friends, he became an Eagle Scout and had the utmost respect for his first leader, Richard Gugliemetti, who he had continued to keep in touch with. Felix was a fun-loving, intelligent person who touched the lives of everyone he knew. Felix was a proud American who enlisted into the Connecticut Army National Guard in March of 1999, where he served with the 242d Engineer Battalion. In January of 2001, he transferred to B Company, 1-102d Infantry, where he volunteered to deploy to Bosnia on a peacekeeping mission. While serving in Bosnia for six months, Sergeant Del Greco earned the distinction of Soldier of the Rotation amongst over 10,000 multi-national forces. Sergeant Del Greco returned from Bosnia in March of 2002. In April 2003, Sergeant Del Greco volunteered to deploy again in support of Operation Noble Eagle Ill and was stationed at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. After nine months at West Point, Sergeant Del Greco returned to Connecticut in December 2003 only to immediately volunteer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II and departed for the Middle Eastern Theatre on January 5, 2004. Sergeant Felix Del Greco graduated from the Army’s Primary Leadership Development Course on the Commandant’s List. Among his awards are the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” device (2nd Award), the Noncommissioned Officer’s Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, and the NATO Medal. Felix leaves behind his parents, Felix and Claire, his beloved sister, Alexa, and his “adopted” sister, Nicole Bonadies. He also leaves behind his beloved Auntie Anita Gomes; his wonderful Uncle Francisco and their children, Francisco, Suzette, Sarah (Scarah), and little Jenna; his beloved Auntie Bela Beaupre, her husband, George, and their children, Alex and Michael; his beloved, Uncle Joey, Cheryl, and their children; his Aunt Suzette Kennedy, her husband, Gordon and their sons, David and Paul; his Uncle Will Deschenes, his wife, Rita, their daughter, Laura, and their deceased son, Steven; his Great Aunt and Uncle, Dolly and Louis and their children; Aunt Angela, cousin John and his wife, Nicole, and their baby Danielle. Felix was a wanderer who loved to explore the world. He had an inquisitive mind, ready wit, and constant smile. He will be missed by so many of his friends, who are too numerous to mention. He gave so much love and pleasure to so many people which will never be forgotten. Calling hours will be Friday from 4-8 p.m. at the Sheehan Hilborn Breen Funeral Home, 1084 New Britain Ave., West Hartford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Cathedral of St Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford, with Bishop Peter Rosazza as the principal celebrant. It is requested that everyone meet directly at the Cathedral. Burial with full military honors will be in Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield.
From The Hartford Courant April 18, 2004
DON STACOM | COURANT STAFF WRITER
SOLEMN WORDS FOR FALLEN SOLDIER
Family, Guardsmen Honor Del Greco
Proclaiming that Sergent Felix Del Greco did not die in vain; the commander of Connecticut’s National Guard told Del Greco’s survivors and friends Saturday that the young soldier from Simsbury would be remembered as a hero and patriot. “Sergeant Del Greco far exceeded military standards,” Major General William A. Cugno said in his eulogy at Del Greco’s funeral. “He was a true professional; he took pride in his fellow soldiers, and he served as a model for his peers.” Relatives, friends, and hundreds of National Guard soldiers attended the service at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford to honor Del Greco, who was killed in an ambush in Iraq on April 9. Soldiers from the Guard’s 102nd Infantry Regiment lined the steps to the cathedral, saluting as Del Greco’s coffin was carried inside. His death was the first combat fatality in Iraq suffered by the state’s Guard since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. ‘This is a very sad day for us in the Connecticut National Guard,” Cugno told reporters before the funeral. “It hurts.” He said other members of Del Greco’s unit, who remain on duty in Baghdad, have “taken the loss quite hard.” Del Greco and about 40 soldiers in the 102nd’s 1st Battalion, C Company had volunteered for assignment to Iraq and underwent special training during the winter before being sent overseas in March. They arrived in Baghdad on April 7, and Del Greco was killed during his first 36 hours in the country. His Humvee was struck by an improvised bomb and then came under small arms fire, according to initial reports. The military has given no further details about the attack. Governor John G. Rowland, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Representative John Larson, and Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez were among the dignitaries who attended. At the Del Greco family’s request, the press was barred from his wake Friday evening in West Hartford, the funeral, and the burial at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield. Cugno, however, provided a copy of his eulogy to the press. “Sergeant Del Greco exemplified our defense forces’ motto: Duty, honor, country,” Cugno said. “His legacy will be one of strength, discipline, courage, compassion, and sacrifice.” After the funeral, Perez said he kept thinking of what Del Greco, 22, might have done in the future. “This family resonates with Hartford. This is the guy next door,” Perez said. “He knew what service and duty were — these were principles he carried in his life. You hear about this person full of promise, and it humbles you to think of the promise that was lost,” Perez said. “Look at what he did in 22 years, and you wonder what he could have done in the other 60-plus years.” Del Greco was the 13th person with Connecticut ties to die in Iraq or Afghanistan. Police closed off a block of Farmington Avenue for more than two hours to accommodate mourners.
Memorialized on Route 309 in Simsbury from Sugar Loaf Cut, running east to the junction of Route 167. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
Memorialized on the Simsbury Veterans Memorial, 754 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, Connecticut.
Memorialized at Camp Nett, 38 Smith Street, Niantic, Connecticut. The memorial brick with his name is on the right in the row closest to the monument.
Memorialized on the 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Monument, Long Wharf Drive, and Sargent Drive, New Haven, Connecticut.
Sergeant Del Greco is buried in Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery, 1 Cottage Grove Road, Bloomfield, Connecticut; Triangle Section, North of Circle, Lot 3, Grave 2.
