Vietnam Veteran Killed in Massachusetts

UPDATES
2 Teens Charged In Vietnam Veteran Murder In New Bedford

New Bedford stunned by taxi driver’s killing
Boston Globe
By Jan Ransom GLOBE STAFF
DECEMBER 01, 2015

"He wouldn’t want me to be mad about what happened. The people who did this to my father had no idea who they did this to."
Barry Depina, whose father, Donald, was killed over the weekend

NEW BEDFORD — Donald A. Depina, an Army veteran from the Vietnam War, survived a search-and-destroy mission in Chu Lai as an infantryman nearly five decades ago.

But Saturday, Depina, a 66-year-old cabdriver who had dedicated his life to helping veterans, was found suffering from a gunshot wound about 11 p.m. in a parking lot outside Brooklawn Park, the Bristol district attorney’s office said.

He died almost an hour later at St. Luke’s Hospital.

“They took a really good man from us,” his son, Barry Depina, 29, said. “I’m sure they thought he was a lowly cabdriver with no family, but the entire city loves him.”

The Bristol district attorney’s office declined to comment on the case Monday and said the shooting remains under investigation. An autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office is pending.
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New Bedford mayor condemns slaying of ex-veterans agent
Boston Herald
Laurel J. Sweet
November 30, 2015

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell is condemning the murder of Donald DePina, the city’s former veterans agent, as a “heinous act of violence.”

Police found DePina, 66, mortally wounded by gunfire late Saturday night near the parking lot of Brooklawn Park.

DePina, a Vietnam War veteran, was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight, according to Gregg Miliote, spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III.

“Our prayers go out to the family of Donald DePina, a servant of both our nation and city,” Mitchell said in a statement to the Herald.

“I am saddened and horrified by this heinous act of violence. We will work relentlessly with the District Attorney’s Office to bring the perpetrator to justice.”
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