Mideast edition, Sunday, June 10, 2007
The 19-year-old son of the senior enlisted soldier for the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team was killed Tuesday in Afghanistan, according to a Department of Defense news release issued Friday.
Pfc. Timothy R. Vimoto died from wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by small-arms fire on a night foot patrol in the Korengal Valley, according to the release.
Vimoto, of Fort Campbell, Ky., was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based at Camp Ederle in Vicenza, Italy.
His father, Command Sgt. Maj. Isaia Vimoto, serves in the same regiment and has left Afghanistan to be with his family in Italy, according to a 173rd spokesman.
“Any loss of a soldier in Task Force Bayonet is felt across the entire brigade,” the unit’s commander, Col. Charles A. Preysler, said in a statement released Saturday to Stars and Stripes. “This loss is even more poignant being that a father serving in combat lost his son who was serving alongside him.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to ... the entire Vimoto family. He was an outstanding young man and a fine paratrooper and he will be sorely missed.”
Pfc. Vimoto was a Hawaii native and 2006 graduate of Fort Campbell High School, according to the U.S. Army. He was the oldest of five children.
He is survived by his father and mother, Misimua Vimoto, two young sisters, Sabrina and Ariel, and two younger brothers, Isaia and Nephi.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday in the Caserma Ederle Chapel.
