Adjourn in the Memory Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle Colleagues, I d like to adjourn today s meeting in the memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni and Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle. The two Yorba Linda residents were killed on March 23, 2010 by a roadside bomb while on patrol in the Marja region of Afghanistan. Rick Centanni Born and raised in Yorba Linda, Rick played football at Esperanza High School where he played linebacker his junior and senior years on the Esperanza varsity football team that won league titles both years. "He was an average athlete, but he played with so much joy and enthusiasm," said his high school football coach Bill Pendleton. "He was a great teammate and it's no surprise at all to me that he chose to join the one other thing with as much camaraderie the U.S. military."
Pendleton said a photo of Centanni will be added to a "Hall of Fame" in the school's weight room so players can honor him for years to come. They also will petition the school district to add a bronze plaque on a campus wall so all students can honor him. "We all need to remember and appreciate what he did for all of us," Pendleton said, choking back tears. "He will be greatly missed by all of us." The mood at Esperanza High School was somber as word spread that one of its own had lost his life in battle. "There is a motto at this school that says, 'Once an Aztec, always an Aztec.' And it's a loss being felt by the entire Esperanza family right now," said Esperanza Assistant Principal Harry Dolen. While on tour, Rick would call his father Jon weekly. "He loved what he was doing, and loved the guys he was with over there, said his father. He was a great kid, a great son. It's a terrible loss, and he will be missed. Rick Centanni would have turned 20 next month.
The Santa Ana Police Department has set up an account and Website for donations in Centanni's memory, at www.rickcentanni.com They hope to use the money to set up a scholarship at Esperanza High School in Centanni's name and have a plaque for him installed at the Yorba Linda Veterans Memorial. Robert Cottle As a youth, Robert Cottle split time between his divorced parents' homes in Whittier and in San Diego, never applying himself much to schoolwork, his father said. When a family friend suggested that he attend a summer camp in Texas run by former Marines, the then-15-year-old jumped at the idea. He liked the experience so much he was back for more the following summer. After enlisting in the Marines at 18 and being sent on active duty to Africa, Germany and Hawaii, Robert decided, after seven years, that he wanted to become a police officer.
"He was a warrior that's what he liked to do," said his father, Kenneth. He stayed in the Marines as a reservist when he entered the LAPD academy in 1990. He became a member of the elite SWAT unit six years later and rose to become assistant team leader, his father said. "This deeply saddens me, especially since I've known 'RJ' for over 20 years," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement. "He is a fine man and a great example of the best LAPD has to offer. He will be missed." In November 2008, Cottle spoke at a Veterans Day Observance Program hosted by the city of Placentia. He presented Mayor Scot Nelson with an American flag that was flown during a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Friends and family were planning a homecoming party for Cottle when he was due home at the end of May. He reportedly is the first active LAPD officer to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cottle's wife, Emily, is a naval officer stationed in Hawaii with their 9-month old daughter, Kaila Jane.
The longtime couple, whose home was in Yorba Linda, got married about a year ago. Friendship Together, Rick Centanni and Robert Cottle enjoyed a personal friendship despite the big difference in their ages, friends say. They became close friends after their deployment, with the older Marine taking the younger under his wing, they said. Both Marines were stationed with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, in southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The men were deployed in November on a mission to stop Taliban soldiers and supplies coming from Pakistan, according to published reports about the battalion. Rick and Robert sacrificed their today, for our tomorrow. I ask that we keep Marine Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni and Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle and their families in our thoughts and prayers.