Setting an example on the battlefield

Strong-willed and decisive beyond his years, he was the leader of the 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment. He wasn't reluctant to bark out an order. Nor to stand up to officers when he thought they had assigned a foolish mission. And when there was risk, he would not pass it over to others.

So when his squad was assigned a resupply mission in Saqlawiya, an insurgent stronghold in Anbar province, he took the lead. All went well as the Marines made their way to an outpost surrounded by three-story buildings, perfect hiding spots for snipers.

The Marines had just reached the compound when a single bullet struck Rapavi in the neck. He was dead before he hit the ground.

I arrived weeks after his Nov. 24, 2006, death, but Marines still had trouble talking about him without tears welling, unusual for the young and resilient.

"He was like the perfect Marine Corps child -- he knew everything," said Navy corpsman Jacob MacKinnon, 22, of Tulsa, Okla.

Rapavi had told his parents before leaving for Iraq that his goal was to ensure that all the Marines in his squad made it home.

Within hours of his death, Rapavi's assistant squad leader, also a short-timer, extended his time in Iraq so the squad would have continuity. "Out here, we fight for each other," Cpl. Ryan Cavey, 22, of Baltimore, told me.

Rapavi was gone but his example lived on.

tony.perry@latimes.com