Marine Lance Cpl. Francesconi was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was killed after triggering a land mine while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Alberto grew up in a neighborhood of drugs and crime but that is not the life he wanted. He attended Aviation High School in Long Island City where he received two degrees in maintaining planes and repairing engines. After graduation, he was a personal banker at the age of 18 and worked for Bank of America in midtown. Because of his dream to be a pilot, he joined the Marines on July 13, 2006, and saw action in Iraq for six months in 2007 as a sniper. Last Veterans Day he was deployed to Afghanistan where he said it was three times worse than Iraq. His awards include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. Alberto and his wife, Cynthia, wanted to start a family and their own business when he came back. During the last phone call with his wife, he said he'd be gone for a week and would call when he got back. He also wanted to know when the next shipment of goodies would be arriving. But knowing what could happen, Alberto had told his wife, "Just in case I don't come home, I want to be buried with my grandmother."
Marine Lance Cpl. Francesconi was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was killed after triggering a land mine while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Alberto grew up in a neighborhood of drugs and crime but that is not the life he wanted. He attended Aviation High School in Long Island City where he received two degrees in maintaining planes and repairing engines. After graduation, he was a personal banker at the age of 18 and worked for Bank of America in midtown. Because of his dream to be a pilot, he joined the Marines on July 13, 2006, and saw action in Iraq for six months in 2007 as a sniper. Last Veterans Day he was deployed to Afghanistan where he said it was three times worse than Iraq. His awards include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. Alberto and his wife, Cynthia, wanted to start a family and their own business when he came back. During the last phone call with his wife, he said he'd be gone for a week and would call when he got back. He also wanted to know when the next shipment of goodies would be arriving. But knowing what could happen, Alberto had told his wife, "Just in case I don't come home, I want to be buried with my grandmother."
