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Local victim served for 9 years as a SEAL

By Stephen Dove
San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 10/16/2003 12:00 AM

The San Antonio native killed in Wednesday's Mideast blast called the Alamo City his home but spent much of his time traveling the world.
John Branchizio died just two days after his 37th birthday when the SUV he was riding in was ripped apart by a bomb in the Gaza Strip. He was a member of a security detail assigned to U.S. Embassy diplomats in the area.

His aunt Kelly Shaw said Branchizio worked for Dyncorp, a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corp. that contracts with the State Department for security services.

Shaw said her nephew, a 1985 Roosevelt High School graduate, had a patriotic spirit and spent nine years as a Navy SEAL after finishing college in Arkansas.

"He had a fierce dedication to his country and believed what he was doing was thoroughly important," she said. "He told his mother when he became a SEAL that he may die young, and he did."

As a SEAL, Branchizio worked in Central and South America. In recent years, she said, he trained air marshals in hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Branchizio was divorced and had an 8-year-old son who lives in Virginia, Shaw said.

She said Branchizio last visited San Antonio in April but called family regularly when he was overseas and considered the Alamo City his "home base."

He was scheduled to return to San Antonio in November before taking a new assignment, she said.

"He was going to be going to Iraq after November," she said. "He was excited about that."

Shaw said the family has been overwhelmed by the number of friends who have called from all over the world with memories of Branchizio.

"John was always one of these little wild childs, with no fear," she said. "He was always so dynamic and outgoing. He would suck the oxygen right out of the room."

Shaw said Branchizio was a competitive swimmer, triathlete and marathon runner.

His father, Ralph Branchizio Jr., is a noted local running coach. His mother, Jeanette Branchizio, is a biology teacher at Alamo Heights High School.

The Branchizio family also is well known as San Antonio restaurateurs.

His grandfather opened Branchizio's Naples Restaurant on Broadway in 1952, and it remained a San Antonio institution for more than three decades.

Branchizio's younger brother, Chris, is scheduled to open a new incarnation of the restaurant in Bulverde today. That will go on as scheduled, said Glenn Franson, a partner in the new restaurant.

Franson said John Branchizio was the center of most family conversations and was respected by everyone who knew him.

"His younger brother, Chris, looked up to him and thought he hung the moon," Franson said. "He was absolutely a hero to Chris and the other family members.

"I think it goes beyond being in the military. I think it was the individual Chris looked up to. I think it was one of these people that was larger than life."

A service time has not been announced. Arrangements are being made by Colonial Chapel Hills Funeral Home and Memorial Chapel. Shaw said Branchizio will be buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery