Body of LAPD SWAT officer and Marine reservist returns home

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle (left) and Lance Cpl. Rick Centanni, both from Yorba Linda, were killed March 24 in Afghanistan. (Courtesy Rick Centanni Memorial Fund)

Second OC Marine’s body returns home
By Staff, City News Service
Monday, April 5, 2010



LOS ALAMITOS — The body of LAPD SWAT officer and Marine reservist Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle, who was killed March 24 in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, arrived at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base today.

Cottle, 45, who leaves behind a wife and a 9-month-old daughter, died alongside a fellow Southern California Marine, Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, a 19-year-old light armored vehicle driver from Yorba Linda. Centanni, whose body arrived at Los Alamitos Friday, would have turned 20 on Saturday.

A large contingent of Marines and LAPD personnel were on hand at Los Alamitos as Cottle’s flag-draped coffin arrived at the base.



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