Fort Wayne soldier killed in Iraq missile attack

Penisten, a member of the 3rd Armored Cavalry from Fort Carson in Colorado, had enlisted in the Army three years ago and was scheduled to be discharged next year, said his father, John Penisten.\n"He was finishing the service in July next year," he said. "It was devastating."\nLoia's father, John Loia, said his daughter had talked with Penisten on Saturday, just before he was to leave Iraq. He had been headed to a debriefing before returning to the United States.\n"It's horrible," John Loia said. "It just ruined two people's lives."\nPenisten has a 4-year-old son, Trevor, who lives with his mother in Fort Wayne. In a recent card to his son, Penisten wrote, "I'm coming home soon," the family said.\nAt the Roman Catholic high school Penisten attended in Fort Wayne, the soldier was to be memorialized Thursday at a regular Mass.\nThe service was expected to draw Bishop Dwenger High's entire student body of more than 1,000 as well as members of the public, school Principal Fred Tone said.\nPenisten graduated in 1993 from Dwenger, where he was talented but hardly seemed to be military material.\n"He questioned everything," Tone, Penisten's former wrestling coach, recalled Tuesday. "He didn't take anything at face value. He would ask why."\n"We had a dress code, and he would say, 'Why is that rule there? Why do we have to tuck our shirts in?'" Tone said.\nIn the last of his four years on the school's wrestling team, Penisten advanced to the state tournament and compiled a 35-2 record.\n"He was one of the hardest workers on the mat we had," said Andy Johns, the school's athletic director. "He was a small guy, and he wrestled at 135 pounds his senior year. He was really a good student and a unique individual. He was fun to be around."\nAfter graduation, Penisten worked as a mechanic in Fort Wayne, studied at Indiana University but did not complete a degree, and even considered starting a rock band.\nHe eventually found his place in the Army, which led to an assignment in Iraq.\n"His parents dropped off his address last month, and were excited to see he was doing well," said Tone, who kept in touch with Penisten after graduation. "I sent him a note, and thanked him for serving his country."\nPenisten is the 15th person from Indiana who has died while serving in the Mideast during the war with Iraq. Nine of them have died since President Bush declared May 1 that major combat operations in Iraq had ended.