Charity expects $10,000

January 10, 2005

By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Playing cards was a family pastime for Michael DiRaimondo when he was growing up in Simi Valley, so it was fitting that a year after the Army flight medic's death in Iraq his family would have a charity Texas hold'em poker tournament in his honor Sunday.

More than 100 players attended the tournament at Paul's Italian Villa, and organizers expected to raise about $10,000 for a foundation created in DiRaimondo's memory.

DiRaimondo, who was 22 when he was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, on Jan. 8, 2004, wanted to become a fire department paramedic.

"He went in to the Army to be a flight medic," said father Tony DiRaimondo, 56, of Simi Valley. "And his idea was get training, (and) when he gets out, he would become a paramedic firefighter. And that dream did not happen."

But with more than $130,000 raised since the foundation was created last year, the DiRaimondos will offer scholarships so that other aspiring paramedics can get the training to achieve their dreams.

Dawn DiRaimondo, 29, said playing cards was a family pastime when she was growing up, so the charity poker tournament was a good event to have a year after her brother's death.

"We wanted to do something productive, sort of channel our energy into something positive," she said, adding that her brother was a humble man and would have been amazed to see the poker tournament.

With large photos of Michael DiRaimondo on a table nearby, players competed to get to a final round, where they could win hotel packages for trips to such destinations as Las Vegas and Hawaii. Among the players were many friends of Michael DiRaimondo, who was an avid surfer and snowboarder.

Longtime friend Tyler Field, 23, said he spoke to Michael DiRaimondo when he was in Iraq.

"He said that he was happy; he knew that this was what he was meant to do," Field said.

Several members of the Ventura County Fire Department also stopped by the poker tournament. Capt. Wayne Ferber said firefighters have been showing up at events held in Michael DiRaimondo's honor because he wanted to become a firefighter paramedic himself.

(Spc. Michael A. Diraimondo, 22, of Simi Valley, Calif., was among nine soldiers killed when their medevac helicopter went down in Iraq, Jan. 8, 2004.)

Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com