Army Spc. Michael DiRaimondo, 22; Killed in Helicopter Crash

Michael A. DiRaimondo’s mission in life crystallized four years ago during a ski trip to Wrightwood when he administered first aid to an injured skier until paramedics arrived.

In August 2001, the Simi Valley man joined the Army, seeking training to become a paramedic himself. He was deployed to Iraq in April.

Initially trained as a combat medic, he was selected last fall, while serving in Iraq, to become an air medic, his father said.

“The more he learned about being a medic and [taking] care of people that were wounded, the better he liked it,” said his father, Tony.

But his goal of returning home and working as a paramedic in civilian life was cut short Jan. 8, when he and eight other soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash near Fallouja, Iraq.

Witnesses said the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which bore medical insignia, was downed by a rocket. The crash, which occurred during a medical evacuation flight, is under investigation, military officials said.

DiRaimondo, 22, a specialist assigned to the 571st Medical Company (Air Ambulance) based at Ft. Carson, Colo., was buried Thursday at Assumption Cemetery in Simi Valley. He was posthumously promoted to sergeant. “I get some comfort in the fact that the last four months of his life were the happiest four months of his life,” his father said.

DiRaimondo was born in Somers Point, N.J., and moved with his family to Simi Valley in 1985, when his father transferred his business there. He graduated from Simi Valley High School in 1999 and attended Moorpark College for one year, his family said. He was an avid surfer and snowboarder. In calls home to his family, he talked about his hope to work as a fire department paramedic.

To honor his passion in life, the DiRaimondo family said it plans to establish the Michael A. DiRaimondo Foundation to give scholarships to needy young people who want to become paramedics.

“That was my son’s purpose in life, and that’s why we are doing this foundation,” his father said. “If we can enable one other person to learn how to save lives, then Michael lives on.”

DiRaimondo also is survived by his mother, Carol; and two sisters, Dawn and Danielle.