Laura Greenback, The Examiner
2006-10-26 09:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

SEVERNA PARK, Md. -

Lance Cpl. Eric W. Herzberg was quiet until you got to know him, but he stood out for his love of the outdoors and his devotion to the Catholic Church and the Marines, said friends and family.

The 20-year-old soldier from Severna Park was killed in combat Saturday in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Friends and family are just beginning to sort through their grief and memories.

“Eric — you are and always will be a hero to me,” his father, also named Eric Herzberg, wrote in the online guest book of Barranco & Sons Funeral Home.

“I know that Jesus has you wrapped in his arms and is probably at this minute giving you instructions for the legion of angels under your command,” he wrote.

Herzberg was always focused on becoming a Marine, said friend and neighbor Jeremy Caruso, 18, a student at Towson University.

“It was something he felt very strongly about,” Caruso said.

While attending Severna Park High School, Herzberg was a junior varsity wrestler and football player.

“You couldn’t have asked for a better kid to get to know,” Severna Park wrestling coach Paul Joyce said.

Herzberg graduated from Severna Park in May 2005 and enlisted in the Marines in August 2005.

He was deployed to Iraq in July with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which is based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., said Marine spokesman Lt. Shawn Mercer.

Memorials for Lance Cpl. Eric W. Herzberg

Visitation: Sunday 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at Barranco & Sons Funeral Home, 495 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park.

Mass: Monday 11 a.m. at St. Bernadette Church, 810 Stevenson Road, Severn.

Military honors will be held at Arlington National Cemetery, time and date to be announced.

lgreenback@baltimoreexaminer.com