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Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto
Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto, 26, of Largo, Fla., died March 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
By Katie Sanders and Rita Farlow,St Petersburg Times Staff Writers
Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto, a 26-year-old Marine from St. Petersburg, was deployed to Afghanistan in December. Two months ago, his wife, Rachel, gave birth to a baby girl, Ariana Ralyn Porto. Her father never got to meet her. Porto was killed in an accident Sunday in the Helmand province, Department of Defense officials said. They wouldn't provide details, citing privacy rules, but his uncle said family members were told he died when his vehicle flipped. "It's a tragedy all the way around," said the uncle, Craig Gregoire. Porto joined the Marines in March 2008 and was promoted to corporal Dec. 1, said Lt. Timothy Irish. He was deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as a small-arms repair technician for the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan. Porto is survived by his wife, who is 23, and their 2-month-old daughter. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. His mother, Rachel Bernaby, and stepfather, Brian, were not at their St. Petersburg home on 46th Avenue N Tuesday afternoon. An American flag and a red Marine Corps flag were at half-staff outside their front door. Porto was born in St. Petersburg and has seven brothers and sisters, said Gregoire. Gregoire said he spoke with his sister, Porto's mother, early Monday. She said Porto had been killed when a vehicle he was in flipped and he was pinned under the wreckage, Gregoire said. |
Marine Saluting Courtesy Sgt Michal S. Williams
Porto graduated from Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow, N.H., in 2002, according to associate principal John Leary. Leary remembered Porto as a hands-on learner who was a good kid. Finding out Porto ended up with the Marine Corps "did not surprise me," he said. Gregoire, of Hendersonville, N.C., said he thought his nephew "found a sense of purpose" in the Marine Corps. Gregoire's wife, Renae, said she and her husband were saddened by their nephew's death, but comforted knowing he was now with his grandmother, Annette Gregoire, who died March 15, 2001 — nine years ago almost to the day of Porto's death. "Whenever I saw him at a family gathering, he gave hugs freely, smiled widely and often, and pretty much made me feel cheerful and welcomed," Renae Gregoire said. Porto received several awards for his service. His body arrived at Dover Air Force Base Tuesday. Times staff writers Kim Wilmath and Kameel Stanley and Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. |
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