Posted on 04/26/2004 11:13:32 PM PDT by Tamzee
Rochester sailor killed in boat attack
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) Although they hadn't seen each other for almost three years, Navy Petty Officer Michael Pernaselli and his elder brother, John, an Army captain, never passed up a chance to rib each other about their military career choices.
''It was a big joke between the two of them as to who was the better, the Navy or the Army. Always a big joke,'' their father, John, his voice wavering with emotion, said Monday.
Pernaselli, 27, was one of three Navy and Coast Guard servicemen killed Saturday in a waterborne suicide attack on an Iraqi oil terminal. They were on board an interceptor boat that overturned when three small watercraft exploded near the oil terminal.
An Iraqi official said the attack appeared to be the work of al-Qaida.
Also killed were Coast Guard Petty Officer Nathan Bruckenthal, 24, of Smithtown on Long Island, and Christopher Watts, 28, a Navy petty officer from Knoxville, Tenn.
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Pernaselli grew up in Brighton, a Rochester suburb, and joined the military on graduating in 1995 from McQuaid Jesuit High School. He had previously toured the Persian Gulf and Kosovo and, in January, was sent back to the Gulf to serve on the USS Firebolt.
His brother, a captain in the Army's chemical corps, earned a Bronze Star during a nearly yearlong tour in Iraq and recently returned to his base in Fort Hood, Texas.
''Unfortunately, their paths never crossed,'' said their father, who served in the National Guard and the Army Reserve for 12 years and is a machinist at Eastman Kodak Co.
''Michael, he would have been home July 4 or the week after,'' he said. ''The last time we were able to talk to him was Thursday at about midnight. He said they'd be going out and he didn't know when they'd be back. He just wanted to talk to his two girls and see how they're doing.''
Pernaselli, who was divorced, had custody of his daughters, ages 3 and 4. The girls live with their grandparents.
His father described him as ''more vocal'' than his brother ''a little more hardened attitude-wise whereas John is a little more sentimental about things.''
His younger son, he added, once excelled at splatball and was a devoted pro wrestling fan. ''That was kind of like his release,'' his father said with a laugh.
Losing him doesn't change his father's mind about the war.
''No. I couldn't do that, and I know the boys wouldn't want that,'' he said. ''I'm not saying they probably would never question some of the things that were going on. All I know is that both of them gave 110 percent. They just believed in what they did.
''I kind of, in the back of my mind, think that it's not really happened yet,'' he added. ''I guess once we really see the casket then we'll know for sure that it's over.''
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
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