By:Angela Marshall and Doug Miller
Winchester, 25, a lifelong resident of Rockville Centre, was killed by a bomb in Al Anbar Province in Iraq on Sept. 3, just eight days after starting a second tour there.
The grandson of a proud Marine, Winchester grew up hearing stories of war and the brotherhood of men who band together to protect America-s freedoms. His grandfather, Dominick Gatta, served in Guadalcanal during World War II. At age 2 1/2, Ronnie, as his family calls him, wore a Marine uniform to trick-or-treat on Halloween. Other family photos show him wearing fatigues at different ages as he grew up.
Winchester told the Herald in a letter to the editor from Iraq last year that he had been waiting to go to the Middle East since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. His father, also Ronald, had worked in the World Trade Center. I felt obligated to New York and all the innocent people, he wrote.
He was a platoon leader, in command of as many as 75 Marines, during his first tour, and the bond with his men was undeniable. My Marines are the best-trained young bunch of guys you will ever see, he wrote. They have done and accomplished everything that they have been asked to do. The average age is 20 years old and weight 160 pounds soaking wet. They have trouble spelling but are the toughest bunch you will ever see.
Winchester came home last year and spent time with his family in Rockville Centre until he was called up for a second tour in August. He looked at going back as part of his duty, and told his father, I need to go there so they don-t come over here.
Winchester-s father said his son never asked his men to do anything he wouldn-t do himself. Although the Winchesters are openly mourning the loss of their only son, they take comfort in the knowledge that he died doing what he wanted to do. He accomplished a lot in 25 years, his father said. He fulfilled his dreams, and he was with his men.
Winchester lived in Rockville Centre but attended Oceanside public schools before embarking on a distinguished academic and athletic career at Chaminade High School in Mineola and the U.S. Naval Academy. He died way too young, said Stephen Kriss, who was Winchester-s principal at School No. 5 in Oceanside. Ronnie was the kind of kid who would make any parent proud. It doesn-t surprise me that he chose a military life.
Winchester was described as a solid athlete and well-liked by his peers. A message board accepting prayers in his name hit the Chaminade Web site almost instantly as word of his death spread, and old friends posted prayers for him.
A true friend and teammate. May God bless you and keep you. Thank you for your supreme sacrifice, read one.
Hero ... God bless and thanks for your sacrifice to this country, read another. Generations of free Iraqis will grow in the freedom that you helped cultivate through your service.
After graduating from Chaminade, where he played football and lacrosse, Winchester graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 2001. He continued to play football, and was an offensive lineman.
Charlie Weatherbie, Winchester-s coach at Navy, recalled a mentally, physically and emotionally tough person. He said you could ask Winchester to go to the wall and he would go through it.
While he played for Navy, Winchester-s best friend, Doug Larsen, played for Army. They played head to head in the annual Army-Navy game. It-s like I lost my brother, Larsen said. The two were inseparable, and even spent the last week before Winchester was shipped out together. When his friend was leaving, Larsen remembers cautioning him to be safe and shoot first.
The Winchesters, who live on Greystone Road, said they have received a steady stream of support from friends and members of the community since they received the news of their son-s death, delivered by two Marines and a priest, last Friday. Community leaders, including Mayor Eugene Murray, parks and recreation Supervisor Anthony Brunetta, and members of the Rockville Centre Police Department and St. Agnes Cathedral, have all offered their services to the family.
So many people called to pay their respects over the weekend that the family decided there wasn-t a funeral home big enough to hold everyone expected to attend their son-s wake. After talking with Monsignor James Kelly of St. Agnes Cathedral, it was decided that the best place to hold the wake, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, will be St. Agnes-s new Parish Center. The times had not been set as the Herald went to press Tuesday morning. A Funeral Mass will be held on Monday at St. Agnes, and interment will follow at Pinelawn Cemetery.
Winchester-s father said his son was always joking. He loved to sneak up behind his mother, Marianna, and pick her up or throw her in the family pool. Mrs. Winchester teaches phys. ed. at Oceanside Middle School. Many of the teachers and members of the soccer club she coaches came to her house over the holiday weekend to express their condolences. And when school opened Tuesday, Mrs. Winchester was there, waiting for her students. Mayor Murray said she told him, The kids need me.
Winchester was also close to his younger sister Kristine. Their father said they were getting to be best friends, and had even talked about getting an apartment together when Ronnie got back from Iraq. Kristine now wears his Annapolis ring on a chain around her neck.
