U.S. Army paratroopers of 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade give a last salute to Pfc. Ian N. Morosoff, who died May 1 from injuries sustained in a car accident, at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy, May 24, 2021. (Paolo Bovo/U.S. Army)
VICENZA, Italy — Pfc. Ian Morosoff was remembered at his memorial as a promising young man who loved his friends and family and reveled in his time as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Morosoff was someone who sought out challenges and self-improvement, from running Vicenza’s punishing Monte Berico steps without pause to preparing for online college classes, said Lt. Col. Kitefre Oboho, his battalion commander.
But he also had a reputation as “a fun-loving, easy-going paratrooper” known for his optimism, he said during Morosoff’s memorial on Monday.
Pfc. Ian N. Morosoff, a 173rd Airborne Brigade soldier, was killed May 1, 2021, in a car crash near Caserma Ederle, in Vicenza, Italy. (U.S. Army)
Morosoff, 19, an infantryman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, was killed in a May 1 car crash. He was riding in an SUV that had hit a parked car, a light pole and a road sign before rolling over, the newspaper Giornale di Vicenza reported.
Morosoff was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other paratroopers in the vehicle sustained minor injuries. The soldier driving the SUV had a blood alcohol level more than three times over the .05 driving limit, the newspaper reported.
A brigade spokesman declined to comment on the report or name the soldier who was driving.
Morosoff often shared stories of his family, including his parents, twin brother Isaac, and his dog, Chance, “who until this day finds his way to Ian’s bed even in his absence,” said Oboho, who choked up during his eulogy.
Morosoff was a high school lacrosse player from Suquamish, Wash., who joined the Army last year. He arrived at the brigade, his first posting, in March.
“He was immediately assimilated into the Legion Company family,” said Capt. David Tarsa, his company commander. The first time Tarsa met him, he said, Morosoff struck him as “poised, confident, proud, and (with) a burning desire to serve his country.”
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘He’s going to be a good one,’” Tarsa said.
Staff Sgt. Dennis Dowdy, Morosoff’s squad leader, said that when he’d quiz Morosoff about the M4 assault rifle or “the five paragraphs of an operations order,” he’d sometimes answer incorrectly.
“He would do his pushups and continue to study, eventually memorizing some of the knowledge he was expected to learn,” Dowdy said.
Pfc. Tywan Johnson, who’d been with Morosoff in basic training, airborne school and in the 173rd, described him as a supportive friend and confidant.
“There were times where I would doubt myself ... but every time Morosoff always reassured me that I could do it,” Johnson said.
Oboho, in his remarks, called on the words of the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus to offer comfort.
“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart
until, in our own despair, against our will,
comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
Morosoff is survived by his father Rudy, mother Sarah and brother, Isaac.
His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal and the Parachutist Badge.
Twitter: @montgomerynance
