Buffalo, NY – Friends and family say Lance Corporal Eric Orlowski of Cheektowaga was a proud Marine. But above all, he was a proud father.
Orlowski, 26, was killed Saturday in an accidental discharge of a .50-caliber machine gun in Iraq. It was the Marine reservist's first deployment.
Nicole Kross of Buffalo, Orlowski's high school sweetheart and mother of his young daughter, said he loved his three-year-old daughter more than anything.
The couple had gone their separate ways but Kross says their daughter kept them close. She says Orlowski sent her letters from overseas, the last saying he was headed for Iraq.
Orlowski had called his mother and daughter just 10 hours before his death, to let them know he was fine. It was 4:30 am Buffalo time Saturday, but he said it was the only time he could get to a phone.
Orlowski attended West Seneca East Senior High School.