Marine Lance Corporal Robert L. Moscillo
November 24, 1984 ~ May 1, 2006
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Camp Pendleton, CA
21, of Salem, NH; killed in action while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Anbar province, Iraq.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Camp Pendleton, CA
21, of Salem, NH; killed in action while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Anbar province, Iraq.
Robert, also called Bobby by family and friends, liked G.I. Joe action figures as a child, even dressing up like G.I. Joe for Halloween. He was a 2003 graduate of Salem High School where he played baseball and was on the wrestling team. Bobby was always active, was a sports fanatic and kept a good grade-point average, planning to go to college to become a pastor. His teachers remember him as ‘the kind of boy who tried hard all the time’. He had ambition to get out of Salem and be something more than just a high school graduate.
Bobby’s interest in his faith could be seen back to when he was a young patron of vacation bible school. His interest was nurtured by the guidance of the Rev. Dennis Scott of the Community Bible Fellowship Church of the Nazarene in Manchester. There was a time in high school when Bobby lived with the pastor in Windham at the request of his mother Donna, then a single parent struggling to handle her rebellious son.
In January 2005, he answered a call to serve our country by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. He had planned to make a career out of the military. He successfully completed recruit training, marine combat training, combat engineer school, and the Martial Arts Program with a Tan Belt and was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA, where he served as a combat engineer. In February 2006, Bobby deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the following month was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He was a machine gunner, the unit was charged with detecting land mines.
1st Lt. Nathan E. Zygmont, Bobby’s platoon commander said that he was a solid performer and a hard worker who volunteered for any task, as well as remembered by his fellow soldiers for his Boston accent.
LCpl. William L. Bain was a good friend of Bobby’s and said he often went by the nicknames “Moss” or “Boston.” “The definition of a rock is a foundation in which to build,” Bain explained. “That seems a little generic to explain who ‘Moss’ was.”
Bain said on Sundays he would travel to Oceanside, Calif., to attend church and visit his grandmother, “because God and family come first.”
“Moss has this way of making everyone feel comfortable,” Bain said. “He was a solid son, a tough Marine and a dependable friend.”
Bobby’s family remembers him as a lovable rogue who couldn’t resist a bit of trouble during adolescence, but matured into a gentleman's Marine. He was not just the stern man in his Marine dress photo, but a likeable fun-loving character who served as a good role model to his younger relatives. His sister Sandra said she and her brother looked out for their younger siblings growing up. “Bobby was like a father figure,” she said, “He was a protector.” “He was extremely protective,” said Lori Jeffrey, Bobby’s aunt. “Not only of his immediate family, but his extended family and his friends as well. We’re certainly going to miss him.” Bobby was one of 17 grandchildren in the close-knit extended family. More than half of the grandchildren went to school together in Salem and grew up with a close connection to one another, Jeffrey said. Getting together with family gatherings was common. “The cousins are really close,” she said. “That’s where the protectiveness comes in.”
Bobby was killed in action by an improvised explosive device explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the vicinity of Fallujah in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. The family notes that Bobby’s death was almost exactly 30 years after the death of his uncle Robert L. Moscillo, for who he is named, who died returning home from Navy service during the Vietnam War in 1976.
His awards and decorations include the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.
Bobby is survived by his mother Donna and father Frank; sister Sandra, brothers David and Joseph; half-sister, Jenny and half-brother Frankie, and his extended family.
Bobby’s interest in his faith could be seen back to when he was a young patron of vacation bible school. His interest was nurtured by the guidance of the Rev. Dennis Scott of the Community Bible Fellowship Church of the Nazarene in Manchester. There was a time in high school when Bobby lived with the pastor in Windham at the request of his mother Donna, then a single parent struggling to handle her rebellious son.
In January 2005, he answered a call to serve our country by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. He had planned to make a career out of the military. He successfully completed recruit training, marine combat training, combat engineer school, and the Martial Arts Program with a Tan Belt and was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, CA, where he served as a combat engineer. In February 2006, Bobby deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the following month was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He was a machine gunner, the unit was charged with detecting land mines.
1st Lt. Nathan E. Zygmont, Bobby’s platoon commander said that he was a solid performer and a hard worker who volunteered for any task, as well as remembered by his fellow soldiers for his Boston accent.
LCpl. William L. Bain was a good friend of Bobby’s and said he often went by the nicknames “Moss” or “Boston.” “The definition of a rock is a foundation in which to build,” Bain explained. “That seems a little generic to explain who ‘Moss’ was.”
Bain said on Sundays he would travel to Oceanside, Calif., to attend church and visit his grandmother, “because God and family come first.”
“Moss has this way of making everyone feel comfortable,” Bain said. “He was a solid son, a tough Marine and a dependable friend.”
Bobby’s family remembers him as a lovable rogue who couldn’t resist a bit of trouble during adolescence, but matured into a gentleman's Marine. He was not just the stern man in his Marine dress photo, but a likeable fun-loving character who served as a good role model to his younger relatives. His sister Sandra said she and her brother looked out for their younger siblings growing up. “Bobby was like a father figure,” she said, “He was a protector.” “He was extremely protective,” said Lori Jeffrey, Bobby’s aunt. “Not only of his immediate family, but his extended family and his friends as well. We’re certainly going to miss him.” Bobby was one of 17 grandchildren in the close-knit extended family. More than half of the grandchildren went to school together in Salem and grew up with a close connection to one another, Jeffrey said. Getting together with family gatherings was common. “The cousins are really close,” she said. “That’s where the protectiveness comes in.”
Bobby was killed in action by an improvised explosive device explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the vicinity of Fallujah in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. The family notes that Bobby’s death was almost exactly 30 years after the death of his uncle Robert L. Moscillo, for who he is named, who died returning home from Navy service during the Vietnam War in 1976.
His awards and decorations include the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.
Bobby is survived by his mother Donna and father Frank; sister Sandra, brothers David and Joseph; half-sister, Jenny and half-brother Frankie, and his extended family.
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Bobby (right), with friend Mark Snapausky at the Salem High School senior prom in 2003.
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The Cross Street Bridge over Interstate 93 in Salem has been dedicated to Army Cpl. Nicholas Arvanitis, Marine Lance Cpl. Robert L. Moscillo and Staff Sgt. Edmond Lo all of Salem NH.
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