The 1966 Thomas Edison High School graduate trained at the Opportunities Industrialization Center before going to work as a macbinst at Action Manufacturing Co. in Frankford. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in February 1968. The 21-year-old private first class, a rifleman, was assigned to Company K of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, in Vietnam. He died in Quang Nam Province three days before Christmas Day 1968. Survivors included his mother, three sisters, two stepbrothers and two stepsisters.