‘He Loved Life’: Mourners Remember NY Serviceman Killed in Afghanistan
Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa was a creative, loving and spirited “bull dog” who adored his daughter and excelled at his job, family members said at his funeral Saturday.
Bonacasa was one of six U.S. servicemen killed when a suicide bomber rode a motorcycle into a group of service members outside the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
“He loved life and wanted to live every second of it to the fullest,” Deborah Bonacasa said of her husband, as she recalled a man who was a wonderful cook, who loved writing poetry and who was moved by music of all kinds.
As she spoke, her 5-year-old daughter interrupted to tell her father: “I miss painting your nails.” Her mother laughed.
Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa was a creative, loving and spirited “bull dog” who adored his daughter and excelled at his job, family members said at his funeral Saturday. (Published 4 minutes ago)
“Lilly was his entire world,” Deborah Bonacasa said. “He was so happy to be her daddy.”
The pair went through military training together and were married for 11 years before Bonacasa was killed Dec. 21.
The 31-year-old from Coram was a member of the 105th Security Forces Squadron, an element of the 105th Airlift Wing based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh.
On Saturday, uniformed service members and tearful friends and family gathered to remember him at the New Beginnings Christian Center in Coram. A solemn drum beat played as precise rows of service men and women raised their hands in a salute.
Bonacasa’s remains were returned to the U.S. during a ceremony earlier this week at the F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called Bonacasa a hero. “I hope the family takes comfort in that,” he said earlier this week.
The five other Americans killed in the attack included Technical Sgt. Joseph Lemm, a New York City police detective who was laid to rest Wednesday.
