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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 22, 2005 Penny Hills shows a photo of Sgt.Dominic Sacco, who was killed Nov. 21 during an attack in Iraq, and his wife, Brandy, on their wedding day. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Remembering Sgt. Sacco A mother-in-law grieves for a soldier killed in Iraq, and for his young family By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT — If Penny Hills could have hand-picked a son-in-law, she would have selected someone like Dominic Sacco. "He was happy, outgoing," she said of the man who married her daughter, Brandy. "He had lots of friends. And he was so looking forward to coming home to be with his baby boy and family." Standing a little over 6-foot-4, Sacco could have held Anthony in one of his broad hands when the baby was born prematurely Aug. 7. "He had a heart as big as Texas," said Peggy Hills, Penny’s mother. "He was just a big old loving teddy bear." Advertisement Sgt. Dominic J. Sacco, 32, a native of Albany, N.Y., was killed Nov. 21 when his tank was attacked in Taji, a city just north of Baghdad. The soldier was a member of Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 13th Armor Regiment based in Fort Riley, Kan. He was a tank driver whose second yearlong tour of duty in Iraq would have ended next month. Brandy, 24, who attended Eagle Point High School, was born at Fort Riley. Her father is now a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. She was working at a bar in Topeka when she met the tall soldier with the easy grin. They were married March 27, 2003, just before he was deployed on his first Iraqi tour. Brandy has a daughter, Elyssa Jo, now 4, from a previous relationship. Her husband wrapped his long arms around the entire family. "They were awesome together," Penny said. "He treated my granddaughter like his own daughter." Spread out on a coffee table in Penny’s Eagle Point home are photographs of the young family. One shows the beaming soldier with his family around him. In another, Elyssa Jo holds a squirming Anthony who now weighs in at a healthy 20 pounds. His father had talked about leaving the Army to become a police officer, they said. "He was very close to his family — he really wanted to be home with them," Penny said. "They were planning on visiting here when he came back this time," said Peggy, who spent a few weeks with her granddaughter and great-grandson after Anthony was born. Sacco returned to Fort Riley early in September to be reunited with his family and hold his newborn son. Unfortunately, his military leave was for only 15 days. "I talked to him when he was home on leave and told him that my grandson, who is quite large now, was going to grow up and play for the Raiders," Penny said. "That was Dominic’s favorite team. "He was a very proud papa," she added. An Army veteran, Penny had spent time with the new family late in 2004. "They were soul mate," she said. "They were best friends. When he came home after the baby was born, he didn’t want to go back." But Sacco was a professional soldier who took pride in his job and his unit, both Penny and Peggy said. An Army spokesman called Penny, who had a stroke earlier this year, to inform her of his death. Peggy flew to Kansas to be there for her granddaughter and to attend the Dec. 2 funeral in Topeka. "They did a roll call and five times they called his name — it just rips your heart out," Peggy said. The Topeka Capital-Journal dedicated its Dec. 3 front page to his funeral, including a photograph of Brandy being hugged by a sympathizer. Behind her stand hundreds of veterans who also came out to show their support for the soldier. "Army Staff Sgt. Jobie Hooper of Fort Knox, Ky., placed next to Sacco the two figures of the Dudley Boyz professional wrestling duo — one white, one black — to represent the powerful bond he had with Sacco," one article read. It explained that the soldiers were buddies with similar stature, prompting their peers to refer to them as the "Dudley Boyz." "That’s my best friend," Hooper said at the funeral as quoted by the Journal. "I’m closer to him than I am to most of my brothers." The respectful tone of the service was marred by the presence of a vocal group opposing the war, Penny said. Anyone who has lost a loved one in Iraq should be allowed to grieve in peace, she said. A memorial service for Sacco will be held in Albany, N.Y., after the holidays. Thus far, more than 2,150 Americans in uniform have died in Iraq. Born Nov. 26, 1972, in Albany, the son of William and Diane Sacco graduated from Albany High School in 1991. The avid basketball and baseball player joined the Army on March 14, 1996. A sniper’s bullet struck the soldier in the underarm area where he had no bulletproof protection, striking his heart, Peggy said. She laments that he was the one selected by the sniper, that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "But, to me, one casualty is too many," she said. "I went through the Vietnam thing. "You have to try to make some sense of it," she continued. "I just feel like it was his time. I don’t understand but I guess you can’t understand everything." When Sacco’s unit returns next month, Brandy will likely have a difficult time, she said. "When they come back, they’ll come see her," she said. "They will feel guilty that their husbands came back and hers didn’t. That’s going to be very hard on her." But Brandy, whom her mother and grandmother describe as "level-headed," plans to begin school in February. She wants to have a career in the medical field to provide for her young family, her mother said. "Right now, we just want to get through 2005," Penny said. "Maybe next year will be better." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at Remembering Sgt. 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