Army Pfc. Stephen Castellano, 20, Long Beach; Dies of Noncombat Injury

A year after receiving his high school equivalency diploma, Stephen A. Castellano enlisted in the Army.

“He saw [the Army] as a steppingstone to some things,” said his mother, Susan Moncure of Long Beach. “He talked about getting back into college and becoming an officer.”

Four days shy of his birthday, Castellano, 20, died Jan. 28 in Mosul, Iraq, of what the Department of Defense said was a noncombat-related injury. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light) at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Army Sgt. Kendrick Washington said an investigation into Castellano’s death was ongoing. Army officials said he was not killed by enemy gunfire.

Castellano, who had been in Iraq for a year, was scheduled to return to the United States in mid-January. His rotation was extended a month, however, because of security needs for the recent Iraqi elections, Army officials said.

During their last phone conversation, three weeks before he died, Moncure said her son seemed serene.

Rather than discuss everyday hardships, she said, he talked mostly about God. “He told me he was reading Psalms,” she said. “That he was going to church.”

In the middle of his customary 2 a.m. calls from Iraq, Moncure said Castellano, who often promised to buy her a house on the beach, would try to introduce her to his new Army friends.

“He liked me and he liked his friends, and he wanted us to talk to each other,” she said. “He liked to share things.”

Moncure said her son was always thinking of others.

When Castellano returned home to Long Beach for Thanksgiving, he learned that his 11-year-old cousin’s PlayStation had been stolen and immediately went out and bought her a new one.

“He told me he spent the last money he had on it,” Moncure said. “He couldn’t stand she didn’t have it.”

Restless in high school, Castellano was an avid reader, preferring college-level history and psychology textbooks and the work of popular fiction writer John Grisham, his mother said.

Castellano enlisted in the Army in February 2003, a year after getting a high school equivalency diploma from Long Beach City College, Moncure said.

In addition to his mother, Castellano is survived by his father, Paul; a brother, Timothy; his grandmother, Cecelia Moncure; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Funeral services were held Feb. 4 at Faith Presbyterian Church, followed by burial at All Souls Cemetery, both in Long Beach.